Economic injustice and disability are deeply intertwined. Yet the way our society often talks about equity separates them into distinct issues. The reality is that systemic racism and ableism converge in powerful ways, leaving Black and Brown disabled people among the most economically marginalized communities in the United States. Disability Justice calls us to center the leadership and survival of those most impacted — and that means confronting economic injustice head-on.
Economic Injustice Through a Disability Justice Lens
Economic injustice refers to systemic inequities in income, wealth-building, employment opportunities, and access to resources. For disabled people, these inequities are magnified by ableism. For Black and Brown disabled communities, racism compounds the harm.
Research from the National Disability Institute shows that nearly 39% of Black Americans with disabilities live in poverty, compared to 24% of white disabled peers and 29% of Latinx disabled people.1 These numbers reveal a simple truth: economic injustice is not distributed equally.
Barriers for Black and Brown Disabled Communities
Poverty and wealth gaps: Disabled households overall report an average net worth of just $14,180, compared to $83,985 for nondisabled households.1 For Black and Latinx disabled households, the disparity is even sharper, compounded by generations of systemic racism in housing, banking, and education.
Wage inequity: Pay gaps widen at the intersection of race, gender, and disability. Black disabled women working full time, year-round earn only 55 cents for every dollar earned by nondisabled white men with the same education, while Latina disabled women earn about 57 cents.2 3
Employment access: Black and Brown disabled workers face both ableist hiring practices and racial bias. Application processes are rarely accessible, accommodations are often denied or retaliated against, and advancement opportunities remain limited.4
Benefits and poverty traps: Safety-net programs meant to support disabled people often penalize them for earning or saving money. Because Black and Brown disabled people are less likely to have inherited wealth, they are disproportionately impacted by these punitive systems.2
Why Disability Justice Requires Racial & Economic Justice
Economic injustice cannot be treated as a side issue. It is a core matter of survival and dignity. Black and Brown disabled people experience compounding barriers across systems:
- Healthcare: Black disabled adults face higher rates of disabling conditions such as hypertension, yet are more likely to be uninsured or undertreated due to medical racism and economic barriers.5
- Housing: Historic redlining and ongoing housing discrimination intersect with inaccessible housing markets, leaving many without safe, affordable options.
- Education: Disabled students of color are disproportionately funneled into the school-to-prison pipeline, limiting long-term economic opportunity.1
- Climate crises: When disasters strike, Black and Brown disabled people—already living in economic precarity—are among the least resourced to recover.
Without addressing racial and economic inequities, Disability Justice cannot be fully realized.
Lived Experiences and Community Responses
Behind the statistics are everyday realities. A Black disabled woman forced to choose between paying rent and affording medical care. A Latinx disabled worker who must limit their income to keep essential benefits. Families stretched thin by inaccessible childcare and transportation.
Yet there is also resistance. Disabled entrepreneurs of color are creating businesses outside traditional systems that have excluded them. BIPOC disabled-led mutual aid networks redistribute resources when institutions fail. These stories remind us that while systems perpetuate harm, communities are actively building alternatives rooted in care and solidarity.
Pathways Toward Liberation
Policy change: End subminimum wage exemptions, enforce pay equity laws, and reform benefits systems to eliminate poverty traps.
Workplace transformation: Companies must address racial equity and disability inclusion together — from hiring pipelines to leadership.
Community power: Lift up BIPOC disabled leadership, fund mutual aid networks, and support disability-led cooperatives.
Cultural reframing: Move away from narratives that measure worth by productivity. Instead, center dignity, care, and collective survival.
Economic injustice is racial injustice, and both are inseparable from Disability Justice. To move toward liberation, we must prioritize the survival and leadership of Black and Brown disabled communities. Liberation is not just about access to jobs — it’s about equity, stability, and dignity in every aspect of economic life.
The challenge is simple, though not easy: How can we reimagine an economy that sustains, rather than exploits, disabled lives?
You can download our accompanying guide to this blog here.
Sources/Footnotes
- National Disability Institute. Race, Ethnicity & Disability: The Financial Impact. National Disability Institute, 2020, www.nationaldisabilityinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/race-ethnicity-and-disability-financial-impact.pdf.
- National Partnership for Women & Families. Disabled Women and the Wage Gap. National Partnership for Women & Families, Sept. 2024, nationalpartnership.org/report/disabled-women-wage-gap/.
- National Women’s Law Center. Wage Gap for Disabled Women of Color. NWLC, 10 Sept. 2024, nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/DWEPD-FS-9.10.2024.pdf.
- The Century Foundation. “7 Facts About the Economic Crisis Facing People with Disabilities in the United States.” The Century Foundation, 27 Oct. 2022, tcf.org/content/commentary/7-facts-about-the-economic-crisis-facing-people-with-disabilities-in-the-united-states/.
- U.S. Census Bureau. “Disparities in Disabilities.” United States Census Bureau, 26 July 2023, www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/07/disparities-in-disabilities.html.
