The impact of employment on the quality of life of people with an intellectual disability

This article reports the results of an evaluation of the impact on employment on the quality of life reported by a sample of people with an intellectual disability drawn from the register of Edge Employment Solutions incorporated, a large Australian competitive employment agency. Specifically, the article compares the quality of life of a group of individuals placed in open employment through the agency (some of who previously attended a sheltered workshop) with that of a matched sample of individuals seeking employment through the agency (all of whom were unemployed, but some of whom attended a sheltered workshop, whilst the others remained at home.) The results indicate that employed individuals report a statistically significantly higher quality of life than their unemployed counterparts. Amongst the employed group, no statistically significant difference in quality of life was reported by those who previously had attended a sheltered workshop and those who previously had remained at home. Amongst the unemployed group, no statistically significant difference in the quality of life reported by individuals attending a sheltered workshop and those remaining at home, was observed.