AUTHOR=Wang Xiaofeng , Guo Jiamin , Li Hu 

TITLE=Multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities in China: An analysis of poverty reduction effect of employment services

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1093978

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2023.1093978

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Disability is a global public health problem which is widely concerned all over the world. The purpose of this study is to examine the levels of multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities aged 16–59 in China and the poverty reduction effect of employment services. The Alkire-Foster (AF) method is applied to measure and decompose the multidimensional poverty index (MPI) of the disabled. The results indicate that among persons with disabilities aged 16–59, about 90% of them are deprived in at least one dimension, and about 30% of them are in a state of severe multidimensional poverty. Deprivation in five dimensions is not homogeneous. The contributions of deprivation in the dimensions of education and social participation are remarkably higher than dimensions of economy, health and insurance. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and the combination of propensity score matching and difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) are used to study the effect of employment services on multidimensional poverty of the disabled. The results demonstrate that employment services have a significant improvement effect on multidimensional poverty, which is reflected not only in the economic dimension, but also in the dimensions of education, insurance and social participation. In addition, this study further verifies that there are some mediation mechanisms between employment services and multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities. These findings provide important evidence for recognizing multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities and promoting the poverty reduction effect of employment services, have great implications for improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities.