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June 23, 2026

The effects of remote work on the disability employment gap

A rise in work from home explains most of the postpandemic gain in full-time employment among people with physical disabilities.

Tyler Smith

Source: Yacobchuk

Employment among people with disabilities has remained well below that of the broader population, with an average disability employment gap of 27 percentage points across OECD countries. In the United States, this low disability employment has proved resistant to policy interventions, including the accommodations required under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

A paper published in American Economic Review: Insights examined whether the shift to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic helped to close this gap. Using Current Population Survey data, authors Nicholas Bloom, Gordon B. Dahl, and Dan-Olof Rooth found that a 1 percentage point increase in work from home within an occupation raised full-time employment among individuals with a physical disability by approximately 1 percent. 

Overall, the rise in work from home appears to have increased the full-time employment of physically disabled individuals by between 9 and 11 percent, accounting for between 68 and 85 percent of the observed postpandemic increase.

Figure 1 from the authors’ paper  illustrates these transformations.

Figure 1 from Bloom et al. (2026)

The left panel plots the percent change in the employment rate relative to January 2019 for individuals aged 18 to 64, separating those with a physical disability from those without one. Both groups follow nearly identical paths before the pandemic and experience the same sharp decline in early 2020. The two series then diverge. Employment for workers with a physical disability rose by 12.4 percent through 2024, while employment for those without a disability returned to its baseline and remained flat. This divergence, absent in previous recessions, distinguishes the postpandemic recovery.

The right panel decomposes the population with a physical disability into three categories: employed, unemployed, and not in the labor force. This breakdown clarifies the source of the employment gains. Early in the pandemic, the drop in employment is mirrored by a rise in unemployment, with little change in participation. Afterward, the increase in employment corresponds almost entirely to a decline in the share of individuals not in the labor force, with unemployment largely unchanged, suggesting that the gains come from people entering or remaining in the workforce rather than previously unemployed individuals finding jobs.

The researchers also found that wages for workers with a physical disability fell in occupations with high rates of remote work relative to occupations with low rates of remote work. Combined with rising employment coming from labor force entry, the wage evidence indicates that increased labor supply, rather than employer demand, is the dominant factor behind employment gains. 

Overall, remote work appears to have reduced commuting burdens and allowed greater control over working conditions, providing individuals with physical disabilities the means to enter into employment.