Hearing loss and paid employment: Australian population survey findings

This paper provides an analysis of participation in paid employment for people with a hearing loss over the full span of adult ages. The paper is based on original analysis of the 2003 Australian survey of disability, aging and carers (SDAC). This analysis shows that hearing loss was associated with an increased rate of non-participation in employment of between 11.3% and 16.6%. Advancing age and the existence of co-morbidities contribute significantly to reduced participation in employment. A disproportionate impact is evident for women and for those having low education and communication difficulties. Controlling for co-morbidities, hearing loss was associated with a 2.1% increase of non-participation in employment, a proportional difference of 1.4 times the population. People with hearing loss were less likely to be found in highly skilled jobs and were over-represented among low income earners. The SDAC data set provides self-report findings on the experience of disability rather than hearing impairment. As such, these findings serve as a conservative estimate of the impact of hearing loss on accessing well-paid employment.