How Do Persons with Intellectual Disability Manage in the Open Labour Markets? A Follow-Up of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort.

Background  The aim was to study how many of the individuals with intellectual disability (ID; IQ ≤ 70) in an age cohort were not receiving a disability pension by the age of 34 years and what their life situation was like in terms of employment, education and morbidity. In 2000, the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort (n = 12 058 live-born) included 129 individuals with ID. Method  The outcome data on employment, education, pensions and morbidity were obtained from national registers. Results  A total of 85.3% (n = 110) of all the individuals with ID were on pension, and 66 of them had severe ID (IQ   85 or not measured). As to the morbidity, they had been hospitalized twice more often than those in the reference group and the mean of their hospitalization days was over fourfold. Conclusion  More attention should be paid to the vocational education and supported employment services of individuals with ID to help them to manage as independently as possible.