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Tuesday, July 29, 2003

Participation and Activity Limitation Survey: Children with disabilities

2001

An estimated 155,000 Canadian children between five and 14 years old, or 4% of all children of this age group, had some form of activity limitation in 2001, and many of their parents reported that they weren't getting the help they needed with their child's condition.

Data from the 2001 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS) showed that about 89,000 of these children, or more than one-half (57%), experienced mild to moderate disabilities. The remaining 43% or 66,000 experienced severe to very severe disabilities.

About 35,000, or one in four, children with disabilities received help with everyday activities including personal care, such as bathing, dressing or feeding, or moving about within the home because of a condition or health problem. Of those children who received help, about 15% had mild to moderate disabilities and the remaining 85% had severe to very severe disabilities.

Family's employment situation affected in over one-half of cases

Parents of 84,000 children, slightly over one-half (54%) of those with disabilities, reported that their child's condition had an impact on their family's employment situation. Examples of impact on employment include situations where family members had to work fewer hours or change their work hours to a different time of day or night in order to take care of the child.


Note to readers

This release is the third in a series of data releases from the 2001 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS). The article on which it is based, titled Children with disabilities and their families, contains findings on children with disabilities aged five to 14, including information on the impact of their condition or health problem on the family. It is available free of charge on Statistics Canada's website ().

PALS was funded by Human Resources Development Canada and conducted by Statistics Canada between September 2001 and January 2002. The survey provides essential information on the prevalence of various disabilities and severity of disability among adults and children whose everyday activities are limited because of a condition or health problem. It also contains data on the supports and specialized aids needed by persons with disabilities, their schooling, their employment profile, their income, and their participation in society.

The survey used two separate questionnaires, one for children with disabilities up to the age of 14, and one for adults with disabilities aged 15 and over. The PALS sample consisted of approximately 8,000 children and 35,000 adults who lived in households in the 10 provinces. Information on children with disabilities was gathered through interviews with their parents or guardians.

Children with mild to moderate disabilities include those whose health condition causes some activity limitations, for example, children who experience some or a lot of difficulty walking, or moving their hands. Those with severe to very severe disabilities include children with multiple significant disabilities, or children with a total loss of function, for example, those who cannot walk or those with a total loss of sight.


Not surprisingly, the more severe the child's disability, the greater the impact on the family situation.

Among children with mild to moderate disabilities, about 40% had family members who experienced an impact on their employment situations. However, among children with severe to very severe disabilities, this proportion almost doubled to 73%.

Indeed, of the 89,000 children with mild to moderate disabilities, family members worked fewer hours in 24% of cases; 22% changed work hours to a different time of day or night; 17% did not take a job in order to take care of their child; 11% quit working at some point of their career; and 10% turned down a promotion or a better job. (Respondents could report more than one answer.)

However, among the 66,000 children with severe to very severe disabilities, these proportions were higher. The family members worked fewer hours in 47% of cases; almost 44% changed work hours to a different time of day or night; 42% did not take a job in order to take care of their child; 30% quit working at some point of their career; and 26% turned down a promotion or a better job.

Mothers most often experienced such impacts on their employment situations. For example, of the 84,000 children whose family's employment situation was affected, seven out of ten reported that the mother experienced such impacts because of the child's condition. In about 14% of cases, both mother and father were affected. In only 11% of cases did fathers alone experience such impacts on their employment situations.

Half of children with disabilities who need specialized aids do not have all the aids they require

Parents or guardians of children with disabilities were asked whether their child used some form of specialized aids and services to help the child with daily functions, such as hearing, seeing, speaking, walking, learning, and so on. Such specialized aids and services include hearing aids, wheelchairs, leg or arm braces, voice amplifiers, Sign language interpreters, and tutors.

Of the 155,000 children with disabilities, about 94,000 or roughly six out of every 10 required some form of specialized aids, according to their parents.

The more severe the child's disability, the more likely the child required specialized aids. Among children with mild to moderate disabilities, slightly over one-half (51%) required specialized aids, while this proportion increased to 73% among children with severe to very severe disabilities.

Of the 94,000 children requiring specialized aids, about 37% had some aids, but parents reported that their child needed more. Nearly 15% did not have any specialized aids, but needed some. In total, about one-half of those children with disabilities requiring specialized aids did not have all the aids that they needed.

The proportion of children who had difficulties getting access to specialized aids increased with the severity of their disabilities. For example, among children requiring such aids, only one-third of those with severe to very severe disabilities had all their needs for specialized aids met, according to their parents. In contrast, two-thirds of those with mild to moderate disabilities had all their needs met.

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The survey showed that cost was a contributing factor why children with disabilities did not have all the specialized aids that they needed. Among children with unmet needs, more than one-half (55%) did not have all the aids they needed because of the cost. In about 44% of cases, parents did not have insurance coverage for the specialized aids needed by the child.

Parents of children with severe to very severe disabilities more likely to need additional help

Using PALS data, it is possible to identify children whose parents received all the help they needed, those who received some help but needed more, and those who needed help but received none. Data showed that there was a gap between the help that parents said they needed with housework, family responsibilities, and time off for personal activities, and what they actually received.

Of the 155,000 children with disabilities, about 52,000 had parents who said they needed help with housework, family responsibilities, and time off for personal activities because of their child's condition. Overall, only one in three of these children had parents who reported they got all the help they needed.

Parents of children with severe to very severe disabilities were more likely to report unmet needs for help than parents of children with mild to moderate disabilities.

For instance, of the 39,000 children with severe to very severe disabilities whose parents required help, 69% had parents indicating that they did not receive all the help they felt that they needed. This proportion fell to 55% among parents of the 13,000 children with mild to moderate disabilities.

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The survey found that cost was a predominant reason why parents did not receive all the help they needed with housework, family responsibilities, and time off for personal activities. For example, of the 34,000 children with disabilities whose parents indicated unmet needs for help, in seven out of 10 cases parents reported cost as a reason for unmet needs.

In addition, 62% indicated that help from family and friends was not available, 42% said services and special programs were not available at the local level, and 36% said they did not know where to look for help. (Respondents could report more than one reason).

While many parents of children with disabilities relied on family and friends for help, many also turned to government organizations or agencies. Among children with severe to very severe disabilities whose parents received help, just over one-half (51%) had parents who received the help from government organizations. This was more than twice the proportion of 22% among parents of children with mild to moderate disabilities.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3251.

The article Children with disabilities and their families, (89-585-XIE, free), and the data tables Children with disabilities and their families - Tables (89-586-XIE, free) are now available on Statistics Canada's website (). From the Our products and services page, under Browse our Internet publications, choose Free, then Health.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Behnaz Behnia (613-951-4366; behnaz.behnia@statcan.gc.ca), Housing, Family and Social Statistics Division.

Impacts of the child's condition on the family's employment situation, by severity of disability of children with disabilities aged 5 to 14 

20011

  Severity of disability
      Mild to moderate Severe to very Severe
  Total 2  % Number % Number %
Total children with disabilities aged 5 to 14 154,720 100.0 88,690 100.0 66,030 100.0
Children with impacts on family employment 83,720 54.1 35,800 40.4 47,920 72.6
Impacts on employment situation3            
Worked fewer hours 51,940 33.6 21,130 23.8 30,800 46.6
Changed work hours 48,890 31.6 19,900 22.4 28,980 43.9
Not taken a job in order to take care of the child 42,980 27.8 15,180 17.1 27,800 42.1
Quit working 29,830 19.3 10,120 11.4 19,710 29.9
Turned down a promotion or a better job 26,380 17.1 9,190 10.4 17,180 26.0
1The population excludes persons living in institutions, on Indian reserves, and in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
2The sum of the values for each category may differ from the total due to rounding.
3Respondents could report more than one impact.



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Date Modified: 2003-07-29 Important Notices