Framework and data sources for statistics on the persons with disabilities

In: Wiadomości statystyczne / Glówny Urza̜d Statystyczny, Polskie Towarzystwo Statystyczne: czasopismo Głównego Urze̜du Statystycznego i Polskiego Towarzystwa = ˜Theœ Polish statistician, Band 63, Heft 2, S. 21-43

Abstract

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) obliges countries that have ratified it to collect data on the situation of persons with disabilities. The aim of the article is to present a complete picture of statistics on disability in Poland, including theoretical assumptions and a list of data sources, thus systematizing the knowledge on disability in Poland and indicate problems with estimating the size and attributes of the population of people with disabilities.
The article presents a definition of disability developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) according to which disability should be considered in terms of functioning of people with disabilities. The consequences of using this concept to measure the statistical characteristics of disability were also described. The most important available data sources and their scope, grouped according to public statistics, other surveys and administrative data sources, were characterized. Attention was also drawn to the problems concerning the estimation of the disabled people population resulting from the lack of a homogeneous statistical definition of a disabled person. The desirable directions of changes in the current monitoring system for this population group were presented in the conclusion.