The Extra Costs of Disability in Chile
Regional Heterogeneity and Policy Implications
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11717038 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joaquín Mayorga Camus (0009-0002-7603-0460, London School of Economics and Political Science, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 182 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Indicators Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0303-8300 • E-ISSN: 1573-0921 |
| Publisher | Springer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11205-026-03817-9 |
| OpenAlex | W7134125399 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 30 |
Disabled people and their households face greater vulnerability to poverty and deprivation due to both lower incomes and higher resource needs. Research on this topic remains limited in developing countries, where disability prevalence is higher and social protection systems are less developed. This study estimates the direct extra costs of disability for Chilean households and examines their implications for poverty and inequality measurement. Using the Standard of Living (SoL) approach with data from a nationally and regionally representative household survey, I find that households with a disabled member would require an additional 46% of their monthly disposable income to achieve the same living standards as households without disabled members. These extra costs are larger in urban areas, exhibit significant regional variations, and are particularly pronounced among households with members experiencing severe or multiple disabilities. Accounting for these extra costs reveals increased levels of poverty and inequality. These findings point to inadequacies in Chile’s current social benefit system and underscore the need for enhanced disability benefits, disability-adjusted poverty measurement, and social policies to reduce the social exclusion and economic vulnerability experienced by disabled individuals and their households
Disability benefits · Disabled people · Inequality · Measuring poverty · Poverty · Social exclusion · Social protection · Social security · Standard of living · Vulnerability (computing · Disability Education and Employment · Disability Rights and Representation · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare
Poverty or preference
Extra costs of living with a disability
Comparing Incomes When Needs Differ
Disability and Household Welfare in Ghana
Standard of Living and Disability in Cambodia
Making Decentralisation Work in Chile
Estimating the extra cost of living with disability in Vietnam
Models and measurement in disability
The Extra Costs Associated With Living With a Disability in the United States
How Poor Are People With Disabilities? Evidence Based on the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index
Disability and social protection in Latin American countries
Improving the measurement of material deprivation at the European Union level
Disability and Poverty in Developing Countries
The Costs of Disability and the Incidence of Poverty
The Cost of Disability in China
| Highly cited | No |
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