The CDC estimates that it costs over $16,000 a year to be blind or visually impaired.
I think of these added costs as “the blind tax.”
How much someone pays for their disability depends on their unique situation.
According to the National Disability Institute (NDI), the cost of disability is influenced by someone’s:
- Personal circumstances
- Support network of family and friends
- Type and severity of their impairment
- Eligibility for government benefits and more.
It’s not a one-size-fits-all situation, and these costs can change over a person’s lifetime.
The real costs of being visually impaired
Costs faced by people with vision loss can be broken down into two broad categories: direct and indirect costs.
While all disabilities come with a cost, that financial burden is heavier for some than others.
– Rachel
Direct costs
Direct costs are the extra expenses people with disabilities deal with as a part of daily life. Out-of-pocket health care costs for people with disabilities are more than double those without disabilities.
Here are a few other examples of the direct costs people with vision loss face.
- Guide dogs: Obtaining a guide dog is incredibly expensive. Training for these animals can easily cost $50,000, and on-going costs like food and other supplies means this isn’t a one-time expense.
- Assistive technology software: Many of us use programs like Fusion, Jaws or ZoomText to make our computers accessible. Fusion, the program I use, costs $170 a year.
- Special equipment, like computer monitors, hand-held magnifiers: These can cost anywhere from a couple hundred dollars for small hand-held magnifiers and computer monitors to thousands of dollars for devices like CCTVs and Braile displays.
- Transportation: Without a car, we must pay for transportation every time we want to go somewhere. Whether that’s a monthly bus pass, splitting the cost of gas with a friend, ride share apps like Uber or getting groceries delivered, these costs add up.
Indirect costs
Indirect costs don’t always carry a specific price tag. Sometimes it’s lost time or lost opportunities. It also includes the sacrifices made by family members who might cut back on their work or take lower-paying jobs to provide care for a disabled family member.
Here are other examples of indirect costs.
- Accessible and convenient housing: Visually impaired people often must live close to where we work. We might need to pick a house or apartment near a bus line in the city or within walking distance of our job. Since accessibility is usually the top priority and cost is second, visually impaired people may pay more for housing.
- Lost time from using public transportation or paratransit: People really underestimate how long it takes to commute back and forth from work with a disability. I’ve had commutes of an hour-and-a-half one way before when riding the public bus. Paratransit, which is government-funded transportation for people with disabilities, is notoriously unreliable and time-consuming. While paratransit is low-cost or free, I’ve known friends with commutes of two hours or more — one way — to get to work each day. This is a huge opportunity cost. If time is money, we’re paying a massive price just to get around.
- Difficulty finding a job: Less than 50 percent of people with visual disabilities are employed. This may be due to how difficult it is to find accessible jobs within one’s skill set. There are also numerous jobs that require a driver’s license or frequent travel, which automatically disqualifies people in the blind and low vision community.
- Lost job opportunities due to discrimination: Sure, hiring discrimination is illegal. But if you bring your white cane or guide dog to an interview and the employer ends up picking a different candidate, who’s to say it’s because the new hire had more experience and not because the employer is prejudice? Even when discrimination is more blatant and deliberate, people with disabilities may not know their rights or how to advocate for themselves.
While all disabilities come with a cost, that financial burden is heavier for some than others.
People with lower incomes are less likely to have had preventive care, including an eye exam, or to be able to afford eyeglasses. They’re also more likely to have vision loss due to diabetic retinopathy, according to the CDC.
Leveling the financial playing field
The cost of making life accessible for people with visual disabilities is staggering, yet many within our community face unemployment or underemployment.
It often feels like we’re unfairly burdened financially for circumstances beyond our control — a sentiment echoed by many people with disabilities.
We need greater awareness, empathy and understanding from the world around us. Navigating a world that’s inherently inaccessible can be incredibly isolating.
We also need more education within our own community about the resources available to us to combat these costs. The blind tax is real, but there are state agencies, nonprofit programs and other services out there to help us save money and reach our career goals.
That’s the purpose of Unseen Wealth. To help people with vision loss gain financial freedom.
We’ll be posting ways to combat the blind tax on this blog and on our social media accounts to spread awareness — but more importantly — to offer real financial solutions to people with disabilities.
We all have different backgrounds, opportunities and needs, and we make different choices. But we can still navigate the path forward together and support each other along the way.
Thank you for reading. Please share this article and your thoughts. My goal is to amplify the voices within our community and share information that helps us all lead better, richer lives.
