Policy Wise

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The wonderful freakonomics blog provides an excellent example of how laws can actually harm the intended beneficiaries. The American with Disabilities Act was enacted to afford greater civil rights protection to the disabled. But has it really helped them?

In 1990, the U.S. Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act, or A.D.A., which was meant to strengthen the rights of workers with physical or mental handicaps.How did this legislation affect such workers? Here are four guesses:

(a) Their employment levels rose 30 percent.
(b) Their employment rose 15 percent.
(c) Their employment levels were unchanged. Or
(d) Disabled workers were actually hired less often than before.

The correct answer is (d).

After the A.D.A. went into effect, there was actually a sharp drop in employment among disabled workers, apparently because employers, now concerned that they wouldn’t be able to discipline or fire incompetent workers who happened to be disabled, simply chose to not hire disabled workers in the first place.[link]

This doesn’t by it self mean that the state should never intervene to help the marginalized. In the current case it could be argued that ADA has enhanced the dignity of the disabled. However, such interventions should be well thought of, vigorously debated and constantly reevaluated.

Did ADA go to far? Perhaps. But surely it is now time for the Congress to revisit the topic.

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