Public attitudes to disability in Ireland: Evidence from experiments

Do people overstate their support for disability policy in standard surveys? Does knowing someone with a disability matter?

On Wednesday 19th April at 2.30 PM, ESRI researchers will present recent findings from an experimental test of public support for disability policy.

The webinar will feature results from an experimental test of the influence of social desirability on public support for policies that favour disabled people, such as whether to increase welfare payments to help disabled people meet the extra cost of living associated with having a disability. It will also provide an overview of findings from an experimental test of how support changes when funding mechanisms of policies are specified, such as budget reallocation or tax increases.

The webinar coincides with the publication of Experimental Tests of Public Support for Disability Policy, an ESRI Research Series report by Shane Timmons, Eamonn Carroll and Frances McGinnity.

This research is part of a joint research programme between the National Disability Authority (NDA) and the ESRI on the experiences of persons with disabilities across key policy areas. The research topics were informed by input from an advisory board comprised of members from Disabled Person’s Organisations (DPOs).

The event features a presentation of the report’s main findings, a panel discussion and a Q&A segment. The webinar will be live captioned and feature Irish Sign Language (ISL) interpretation.