The Intersections of Disability, Gender, Race, and Economic Precarity

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, disability advocates have drawn attention not just to the additional health risks faced by many people with disabilities, but to the ways ableism renders people vulnerable to economic precarity. The pandemic has made very clear that disability and gender are each important axes of inequality that shape employment outcomes and income. When the pandemic hit, both women and people with disabilities were disproportionately affected given their employment status and extant risk of living in poverty.

In the “matrix of domination,” disability’s intersection with gender further compounds economic disadvantage, where women with disabilities face double penalties.