August 29, 2025
New research in the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development highlights the growing number of Black women with disabilities pursuing self-employment
As Black women experience the steepest job losses and rise in unemployment in today’s unstable labor market, Black women with disabilities are surviving these challenges by turning to self-employment.
New research in the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development highlights the growing number of Black women with disabilities pursuing self-employment. The report, “Breaking Barriers: The Economic Realities of Self-Employed Black Women With Disabilities,” part of a special issue on Black Americans with disabilities, found that 43.9% of Black women with disabilities are self-employed.
“Black women with disabilities can create their own paths to financial independence, and they can thrive and survive in the labor market with the right tools,” the study’s lead author, Gemarco Peterson, Ph.D., assistant professor of clinical rehabilitation counseling at Georgia State University in Atlanta, told Phys.org.
The study captures a snapshot of Black women with disabilities in the labor market between August and September 2024, with a deep dive into the self-employment rates among women with specific disabilities. Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, researchers analyzed responses from 91 Black women with physical or mental health disabilities.
Among the 43.9% who were self-employed, 66.9% reported multiple mental health conditions, 27.3% had visual impairments, 11.8% faced mobility challenges, and 11.3% reported auditory impairments. The findings also showed that Black women with physical disabilities were more likely than those without to hold a graduate degree (31% vs. 15.5%) and to earn $50,000 or more annually (55.4% vs. 33.7%).
Peterson hopes the findings encourage counselors to recognize that Black women with disabilities want to participate and thrive in the labor market and see self-employment as a viable path. Greater understanding and support in this area will enable counselors to offer stronger career guidance that aligns with the clients’ desires and skill sets.
Researchers stressed that counselors must understand how vocation, especially self-employment, affects a client’s overall well-being. They also urged counselor education programs to train counselors to recognize how societal stereotypes and misconceptions harm the mental health of Black women, with or without disabilities.
“Vocation is a key social determinant of health,” Peterson said. “The systemic barriers in today’s society extend to employment, impacting the mental and emotional well-being of the client. If we silo vocation and employment, we miss the bigger picture of the whole person.”
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