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Censuses are the First Step towards Disability Rights: Zooming in on the India Census
Date: May 26th 2026
A Simple Question That Shapes the Future
Every ten years, India asks a simple question: Who lives here?
The Census of India counts every person. It records age, work, education, housing, and more. These numbers help the government make big decisions. Where should new schools be built? How much money should states get? Where are hospitals needed?
In many ways, the census shapes India’s future.
The Disability Statistics – Estimates (DS-E) database shows the inequalities persons with disabilities face
Date: May 14th 2026
Imagine trying to understand the lives of persons with disabilities. Now try to understand the inequalities they face across many different countries
You need disability-disaggregated statistics (or data) to make their situation visible. Disaggregation is when you take a group’s data, say on employment status, and divide it into smaller parts. For example, for adults with and without disabilities.
Yet, such statistics are often not available. That’s why the Disability Data Initiative (DDI) created the Disability Statistics – Estimates Database (DS-E database) (DDI 2025a).
Is there data to monitor and research the rights of persons with disabilities?
Date: March 12th 2026
The Disability Statistics – Questionnaire Review (DS-QR) can help you find out
Advocating for disability rights starts with a question. Are those rights protected? We can use household censuses and surveys to answer that. But which ones make it possible to measure the inequalities that persons with disabilities face? The DS-QR Database looks for answers. It finds “functional difficulty questions.” If national censuses and household surveys miss such questions, inequalities may go hidden. We need to collect it to see the full picture.
Why are DDI’s databases focused on functional difficulties?
Date: Dec 17th 2025
Overview
The Disability Data Initiative (DDI) has been analyzing quantitative disability data from household surveys and population and housing censuses in order to produce disability-disaggregated data (or statistics). Identifying persons with disabilities in such datasets is challenging and there is no gold standard on how to do that. We have been identifying persons with disabilities through brief sets of question on functional difficulties. Why such a focus on functional difficulties?
How many youths lack both school and work? Is it worse for youths with disabilities? Data can tell us
Date: Dec 3rd 2025
Overview
Imagine how different your life would be if you could not go to school or start working during the most important years of growing up. How many fewer choices would you have today?
This is the reality for many young people around the world. In fact, one in four young people are not in school or working, according to the International Labour Organization. This can cause serious problems for their future as they lose chances to learn, make a living, and be part of their community.
Why do we disaggregate data and how can it help people?
Date: Nov 19th 2025
First, why is this such an important topic today?
Even though funding for inclusive health services is critically low worldwide, funding for disability rights is falling aggressively. One critical factor in remedying this is data. Data on disability prevalence, on barriers to inclusion, on disability support needs. The more people know how serious a problem is, the more it can be treated seriously. And that is where disability-disaggregated data comes in.