Persons with disability often live on the margins of society, experiencing barriers to both labour market participation and employment. This dissertation considers the nature and magnitude of the barriers facing persons with disability within South Africa’s labour market. Three important points are found. Firstly, careful consideration must be given to defining and measuring disability. If this is not done, results may be seriously biased. Secondly, the barriers to labour market participation faced by those with disability are substantial, and larger than the barriers to employment. Thirdly, disabled women are disadvantaged due to both their gender and disability status, referred to as ‘double discrimination’. However, disability is a larger constraint in terms of participation among
males with disability than females with disability, relative to their abled counterparts. Although disability is important, gender is the primary reason for low participation and employment among disabled women. This has important implications for South African policy design and implementation.