Part I The concepts: The human rights framing of disability 2.5. SOCIAL SUPPORT: CALIBRATING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RIGHTS TO UNDERPIN THE AUTONOMY Social support has seldom provided the right kinds of support to persons with disabilities in the past. Indeed, our social protection/welfare systems have tended to ‘cushion’ persons with disabilities – and even then not very effectively – from the mainstream. These systems were not premised on the notion that persons with disabilities would want to live an active and productive life. The ‘social support’ approach to disability dominated our recent past. Most people viewed this as normal and ‘the right thing to do’. Reframing public opinion to place the focus on the rights of people with disabilities and to promote their inclusion in all aspects of community life is challenging for many people. However, it is vitally important and NHRIs have a huge role to play in helping shift community attitudes. The need to reframe the social support paradigm is doubly important because of the close link between disability and poverty. We know that persons with disabilities are more likely to be poor and that poorer people are more likely to become disabled. The UN CRPD acknowledges that “the majority of persons with disabilities live in conditions of poverty” and notes the “critical need to address the negative impact of poverty on persons with disabilities”.74 Indeed, some 80 per cent of persons with disabilities live in developing countries.75 Disability increases the risk of poverty. This is because persons with disabilities face significant disadvantage in securing an adequate income through paid employment (an income penalty). It is also because persons with disabilities face extra costs related to their impairments or health condition and to overcoming the barriers they face when seeking to participate fully in society (a cost of living penalty). The extra costs faced by persons with disabilities are often not taken into account in general measures to alleviate poverty. The main route out of poverty – paid employment – is largely closed to persons with disabilities. People with disabilities are more likely to be unemployed than non-disabled people. In OECD countries, the employment rate of people with disabilities (44%) hovers around half that for people without disabilities (75%).76 People with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems experience the greatest disadvantage.77 Internationally, the average employment rate of women with disabilities is less than half that of men with disabilities.78 However, the way social rights were delivered in the past almost assumed the non-presence of persons with disabilities in the workplace. They were, instead, ‘compensated’ for their absence. Further, to remain entitled for these payments, many people with disabilities had to impoverish themselves by divesting themselves of any assets they were fortunate enough to inherit or acquire. The overall effect was that by the time the UN CRPD was being drafted, economic and social rights were seen by many as part of the problem rather than part of the solution. The shift to the human rights frame, therefore, has significant implications for the design and delivery of social rights programs and entitlements. On close analysis, it is clear that the drafters of the UN CRPD were prepared for this challenge. That is why many of the rights contained in the substantive provisions of the Convention blend a fundamental right – for example, freedom of expression – with socio-economic rights, supports and obligations to help secure that right in practice for people with disabilities. This can make life a bit difficult for advocates, lawyers and NHRIs alike since the rights and obligations in the Convention do not come neatly packaged into those that are ‘immediately achievable’ 74 Preambular paragraph (t). 75 WHO, World Report on Disability, 2011; available at www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/en/. 76 Ibid. 77 Ibid. 78 WHO, World Health Survey 2002–2004; available at www.who.int/healthinfo/survey/en. Chapter 2: Key elements of the human rights frame on disability | 29