Employment of persons with disabilities: opportunities, priorities and outcomes of active policies in welfare states. Part one

This two-part article examines the active employment policies of welfare states and their impact on the situation of persons with disabilities of working age. On the basis of research materials and data from population surveys in the EU and OECD countries, the article analyzes the trends of active employment policies for persons with moderate and severe disabilities in welfare states of different models for the period from 2010 to 2020. The first part of the article reveals the approaches of active policy to retention on the labor market, to provision of employment assistance services, to reduction of unemployment risks, to employment of persons with disabilities. The principles of transformation of allowances for disability, temporary disability, unemployment, income maintenance and application of personal measures – incentives and sanctions, which are based on increasing the responsibility of citizens for their own well-being, are considered. The role of the factor of de-regulation of the employment sphere in the approaches of active policy to the expansion of labor supply and maintenance of demand on the part of employers is shown. The priorities of active measures to promote employment, based on cost reduction and increasing returns on investment, and their impact on the employment of citizens with different degrees of impairment are revealed. The results of active policies (employment gap and unemployment rate) and their sustainability in relation to persons with moderate and severe impairments are revealed.