Disability and Poverty: the need for a more nuanced understanding of implications for development policy and practice
Abstract
The international development community is beginning to recognise that people with disabilities constitute among the poorest and most vulnerable of all groups, and thus must be a core issue in development policies and programmes. Yet the relationship between disability and poverty remains ill-defined and under-researched, with few studies providing robust and verifiable data that examine the intricacies of this relationship. A second, linked issue is the need for鈥攁nd current lack of鈥攃riteria to assess whether and how disability-specific and disability 鈥榤ainstreamed鈥� or 鈥榠nclusive鈥� programmes work in combating the exclusion, marginalisation and poverty of people with disabilities. This article reviews existing knowledge and theory regarding the disability鈥損overty nexus. Using both established theoretical constructs and field-based data, it attempts to identify what knowledge gaps exist and need to be addressed with future research.
Citation
Groce, N.; Kett, M.; Lang, R.; Trani, J.F. Disability and Poverty: the need for a more nuanced understanding of implications for development policy and practice. Third World Quarterly (2011) 32 (8) 1493-1513. [DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2011.604520]