Nordic seminar 2–3 October

Statistics and Quantitative Research on the Situation of Persons with Disabilities in the Labor Market

Information

The Nordic Welfare Centre and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) will hold a seminar on 2–3 October to discuss what Nordic statistics and quantitative research reveal about the realization of the right to work according to the CRPD and how statistical data can be improved.

About the seminar

The Nordic countries have signed and ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which in Article 27 establishes the right to work on equal terms. According to Article 31, states parties to the convention are obligated to collect and analyze data to ensure the implementation of the convention’s rights. Systematic data collection is essential to identifying barriers, evaluating progress, and developing effective measures to promote equality and inclusion.

For the right to work (under the CRPD) to become a reality, reliable statistics and systematic and disaggregated data collection are required. Without relevant data on employment rates, working conditions, and labour market barriers, both legislation and policy measures risk being ineffective or exclusionary.

The Nordic Welfare Centre will conduct a Nordic project in 2025–2026 on inclusive working life for persons with disabilities. The project is funded by the Nordic Committee of Senior Officials for Labour (ÄK-A) and aims to enable a more inclusive working life in the Nordic region through improved data collection and policy development.

Issues that will be addressed are:

• How are persons with disabilities currently represented in surveys and administrative data? What are the challenges and opportunities for improving this representation?

• To what extent is disability data disaggregated, and how can we strengthen disaggregation to better reflect different groups within the disability population?

• In what ways can we work together in the Nordic region to improve statistics on the employment of persons with disabilities?

Target groups

Participation in this seminar is by invitation only.

The seminar's target group is broad and includes representatives from relevant national authorities, researchers and experts in statistics in data and research on employment and disability.

Programme

Moderator

Hisayo Katsui, Professor, University of Helsinki


Day 1: Thursday 2 October

11:30 – Lunch

12:30 – Welcome and introduction

    • Lars Lindberg, Nordic Welfare Centre
    • Päivi Nurmi-Koikkalainen and Mesiäislehto Merita, THL
    • Hisayo Katsui, University of Helsinki
    • Participants introduction

13:10 – An overview of Nordic cooperation in the labour market sector

    • Liisa Larja, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, Finland (presentation)

13:20 – Barriers to employment in the Nordic countries: Findings from the project "Toward a More Inclusive Labour Market in the Nordics"

13:35 – CRPD and article 27: data, statistics and indicators

13:50 – Questions and comments

14:00 – Coffee break

Thematic session 1: Why do we need a common approach on data on employment and disability?

14:20 – Introduction by Hisayo Katsui, University of Helsinki

14:25 – Nordic cooperation on data and statistics

14:40 Eurostat and disability statistics

    • Lucian Agafitei, Eurostat

15:00 – Comparative disability data in employment contexts

15:30 - Questions and discussion

15:45 – Group discussions

16:30 – Presentation of group discussions and joint plenary

16:50 – Summary and wrap-up of day 1

17:00 – Mingle and Dinner


Day 2: Friday 3 October

08:30 – Introduction

    • Hisayo Katsui, University of Helsinki

Thematic session 2: Disability and employment:

    • What data do we have, and how can it be improved?
    • What conclusions can we draw from existing studies?

08:35 – Presentations: National examples and experiences of quantitative surveys on the labour market and disability

    • Denmark: Vibeke Jakobsen, VIVE (presentation)
    • Sweden: Susanne Zander, Statistics Sweden (SCB) (presentation)
    • Iceland: Anton Örn Karlsson, Statistics Iceland (presentation)
    • USA: Dan-Olof Rooth, Stockholm University (presentation)
    • Joint discussion

9:45 – Coffee break

10.05 – Presentations: How can we make better use of register data for statistics?

    • Finland: Mika Gissler and Merita Mesiäislehto, THL (presentation)
    • Norway: Jostein Starrfelt, Statistics Norway (SSB) (presentation)
    • Sweden: Susanne Zander, Statistics Sweden (SCB) (presentation)
    • Joint discussion

11:10 – Group discussions, part I

12:00 – Lunch (45 min) (continued group discussions)

13:00 – Presentation of group discussions and joint conclusions

13:40 – Wrap-up (10 min)

13:50 – Closing remarks,

  • Eva Franzén, Director, Nordic Welfare Centre

14.00 – End of seminar

14.10 – Transport to the airport

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