Disability and poverty: from EU Regulations to National statistics. A comparative analysis: Romania-Bulgaria

Despite the EU social policy documents and strategies which and also adopted by the EU Member States, many persons with disabilities do not have equal access to health services, education services and/or employment opportunities; they do not receive the specific services they need, being, thus, excluded from the activities of everyday life. In some European societies, people with disabilities are unable to find a job, their difficulties varying from the accessibilities that the community and employers have to provide to them, to the employers mentalities related to their employment. However, for a person with disabilitites, having a limited access to employment may put her/him in a high risk of social exclusion and poverty. The secondary data that we will analyse in this article will highlight the fact that in Romania and Bulgaria, the quality of life of persons with disabilities, is much lower than the European average, the activity limitation, conditioned by a state of health or difficulty in carrying out the daily activity is high, the access to medical and social services is limited, and, thus, the quality of life is low, which can lead us to the conclusion of an existing vicious circle (disability and poverty).