The Swedish Agency for Participation has carried out a gender analysis. The aim has been to do in-depth analyses and identify gender differences concerning living conditions, participation opportunities for persons with disabilities and their access to various kinds of support from the authorities.

The study is a government assignment based on Swedish national statistics, research and investigations. It focusses on the area of education, labour market, political influence and health, in accordance with the goals of the gender equality policy of the present government.

The analysis has identified two general patterns within the areas studied: inequality in living conditions between persons with disabilities and the general population and gender inequality within the part of the population having disabilities.

Persons with disability are disadvantaged compared to the general population: they have worse living conditions, fewer opportunities to participate in society, a lower level of education and a lower rate of employment than the general population.

Girls/women with disabilities are disadvantaged compared to boys/men with disabilities. This inequality is apparent in relation to political influence, health, and in particular to the labour market. It is only within education that the girls/women have a certain advantage. But in spite of a higher level of education, women with disabilities still have a lower rate of employment than men with disabilities.

The patterns of inequality will be discussed as a result of structural or organizational flaws rather than searching for answers on an individual level. An intersectional perspective will be used as gender and disability cannot exclusively explain gender inequality as for example age, social class and level of education also have an impact on gender inequality.