Transportation research suggests that persons who travel further to work earn higher hourly wages.
OBJECTIVE:
To explore whether workers with disabilities who have longer commute times earn higher wages.
METHODS:
Data from the 2016 American Community Survey is used to examine commuting time and wages for workers with and without disabilities, controlling for individual characteristics.
RESULTS:
Travel time to work is quite similar between workers with and without disabilities, but workers with disabilities who travel similar amounts of time as workers without disabilities earn substantially less per hour, even when controlling for individual characteristics.
CONCLUSIONS
Commuting time does not contribute to the wage gap between workers with and without disabilities.
Blumenberg, E., & Agrawal, A. W. (2014). Getting around when you're just getting by: Transportation survival strategies of the poor. Journal of Poverty, 18(4), 355–378.
2.
Blumenberg, E., & Manville, M. (2004). Beyond the spatial mismatch: Welfare recipients and transportation policy. Journal of Planning Literature, 19(2), 182–205.
3.
Blumenberg, E., & Shiki, K. (2004). Spatial mismatch outside of large urban areas: An analysis of welfare recipients in Fresno County, California. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 22, 401–421.
4.
Claypool, H., Bin-Nun, A., & Gerlach, J. (2017). Self-driving cars: The impact on people with disabilities. Newton, MA: Ruderman Family Foundation.
5.
Disability Rights Advocates. (2017). Unprecedented dual class action suits filed today challenging the New York City subway system's illegal discrimination against wheelchair users and others. New York, NY: Disability Rights Advocates.
6.
Farber, S., & Paez, A. (2010). Employment status and commute distance of Canadians with disabilities. Transportation, 37, 931–952. doi: 10.1007/s11116-010-9268-y.
7.
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). (2014). FHWA NHTS brief: Mobility challenges for households in poverty. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation, FHWA.
8.
Haley-Lock, A., Berman, D., & Timberlake, J. M. (2013). Accounting for job quality in women's and men's commute time to work: An update to the "household responsibility" thesis. Social Service Review, 87(1), 70–97.
9.
Houtenville, A., Brucker, D. L., & Lauer, E. (2015). Annual compendium of disability statistics, 2015. Durham, NH:University of New Hampshire.
10.
Jacoby, I. (1991). Geographic distribution of physician manpower: The GMENAC (Graduate Medical Education National Advisory Committee) legacy. Journal of Rural Health, 7, 427e436.
11.
Lauer, E. A., & Houtenville, A. J. (2017). Annual Disability Statistics Compendium: 2016.Durham, NH:University of New Hampshire, Institute on Disability.
Madden, J., & Chiu, L. (1990). The wage effects of residential location and commuting constraints on employed married women. Urban Studies, 27, 353–369.
14.
Maroto, M., & Pettinicchio, D. (2014). Disability, structural inequality, and work: The influence of occupational segregation on earnings for people with different disabilities. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 38, 76–92.
15.
Mattson, J. (2012). Travel behavior and mobility of transportation- disadvantaged populations: Evidence from the National Household Travel Survey.Fargo, ND: Upper Great Plains ' Transportation Institute.
16.
Metzel, D. S., & Giordanon, A. (2007). Locations of employment services and people with disabilities. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 18 (2), 88–97.
17.
Myers, A., & Ravesloot, C. H. (2015). Navigating time and space: How Americans with disabilities use time and transportation. Community Development, 47(1), 1–16.
18.
National Council on Disability (NCD). (2015). Transportation update: Where we've gone and what we've learned. Washington, DC:NCD.
19.
O'Hara, B. (2004). Twice penalized: Employment discrimination against women with disabilities. Journal of Disability Policy Studies15(1), 27–34.
20.
Phillips, D. (2014). Getting to work: Experimental evidence on job search and transportation costs. Labour Economics, 29, 72–82.
21.
Ren, P. (2016). Commuting patterns of older workers in the United States, 2008-2012. American Community Survey working paper. U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC.
22.
Ricketts, T. C., Savitz, L. A., Gesler, W. M., & Osborne, D. N. (1997). Using geographic methods to understand health issues. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
23.
Ruggles, S., Genadek, K., Goeken, R., Grover, J. & Sobek, M. (2015). Integrated Public Use Microdata Series: Version 6.0[dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota. DOI: 10.18128/D010.V6.0.
24.
Sanchez, T. W., Shen, Q., & Peng, Z. R. (2004). Transit mobility, jobs access and low-income labour participation in US metropolitan areas. Urban Studies, 41(7), 1313–1331.
25.
Schur, L. (2003). Barriers or opportunities? The causes of contingent and part-time work among people with disabilities. Industrial Relations, 42(2), 589–622. DOI: 10.1111/1468-232X.00308.
26.
Sevak, P., Houtenville, A. J., Brucker, D. L., & O'Neill, J. (2015). Individual characteristics and the disability employment gap. Journal of Disability Policy Studies. DOI: 10.1177/1044207315585823.
27.
So, K. S., Orazem, P. F., & Otto, D. M. (2001). The effects of housing prices, wages, and commuting time on joint residential and job location choices. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 83(4), 1036–1048.
28.
Soot, S., & Liao, Y. (2007). Determinants of perceived importance of targeted transportation services for low-income riders. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 1986, 145–153.
29.
Thakuriah, P., Persky, J., Soot, S., & Sriraj, P. S. (2013). Costs and benefits of employment transportation for low-income workers: An assessment of job access public transportation services. Evaluation and Program Planning, 37, 31–42.
30.
Thakuriah, P. (2011). Variations in employment transportation outcomes: Role of site-level factors. Papers in Regional Science, 90(4), 755–772.
31.
Trowbridge, M. J., & McDonald, N. C. (2008). Urban sprawl and miles driven daily by teenagers in the United States. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 34(3), 202e206. 10.1016/j.amepre.2007.11.013.
32.
U.S. Department of Labor. (2017). Persons with a disability: Labor force characteristics. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor. Available:https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/disabl.pdf.
33.
Weber, B., & Duncan, G. (2000). Welfare reform reauthorization and rural America: Implications of recent research. Joint Center for Poverty Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL and University of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
34.
Yelin, E. H., & Trupin, L. (2000). Successful labor market transition for persons with disabilities: Factors affecting the probability of entering and maintaining employment. Research in Social Science and Disability, 1, 105–129.
35.
Yi, C. (2006). Impact of public transit an employment status—disaggregate analysis of Houston, Texas. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 1986, 137–144.
