Unemployment is common for persons with disabilities but little is known about the different reasons why people with disabilities may not be seeking employment. This study identified the reasons that people living with disabilities report for not seeking employment, from the 2015 Kessler Foundation National Employment and Disability Survey (KFNEDS) and variation of reasons by demographic, socioeconomic, and disability characteristics. We conducted a content analysis of responses to an open-ended question on the KFNEDS. The analytic sample (n = 1,254) included adults (ages 18–64) living with disabilities, who self-identified as either unemployed or not seeking employment. Team coding used a hybrid inductive/deductive approach to identify nine meaningful reasons why people with disabilities may not seek employment. Overall, medical conditions, functional limitations, or their disability were more likely to be reported as reasons for not seeking work, rather than situational reasons associated with workplace engagement, such as “lack of job opportunities.” Bivariate comparisons of codes across demographic, socioeconomic, and disability characteristics noted variability in reasons reported by respondents by sex, race/ethnicity, age, household income, and disability. These findings provide an understanding of diverse reasons for not seeking employment, which can inform programs and policies that promote labor force participation of people with disabilities.

失业对于残疾人来说很普遍，但是对于为什么人们不寻求就业的不同原因知之甚少。这项研究从2015年凯斯勒基金会（Kessler Foundation）全国就业和残疾状况调查（KFNEDS）中确定了残疾人报告不寻求就业的原因，并根据人口，社会经济和残疾特征对原因进行了分类。我们对KFNEDS上一个开放性问题的答案进行了内容分析。分析样本（n= 1,254）包括成年人（年龄在18-64岁之间）的残障人士，他们自认是失业者或未寻求工作的人。团队编码使用归纳/演绎混合方法来确定残疾人可能不寻求工作的九个有意义的原因。总体而言，医疗状况，功能限制或其残疾更有可能被报告为不找工作的原因，而不是与工作场所参与相关的情境原因，例如“缺乏工作机会”。跨人口，社会经济和残疾特征的代码双变量比较表明，受访者报告的原因存在差异，包括性别，种族/民族，年龄，家庭收入和残疾。这些发现使人们了解了不寻求工作的各种原因，