Posted:
Hearing loss can affect more than communication. A 2025 study in Frontiers in Audiology and Otology followed Americans from adolescence into adulthood using data from the long-running ADD Health survey. The researchers compared education, employment, and income outcomes for people who reported hearing loss with those who reported no hearing loss.
The study found that young adults with hearing loss had about a 12 percent lower chance of being employed. They were also far less likely to earn higher incomes, with roughly a 33 percent reduction in the odds of being in a higher income bracket. These effects were even stronger for Black and Hispanic participants with hearing loss.
The findings suggest that hearing loss early in life can shape long-term access to jobs, income, and upward mobility. They also point to gaps in screening, affordable hearing care, and workplace accommodations as factors that may contribute to these outcomes.
Please let us know:
Do you think access to hearing care and workplace accommodations plays a role in these economic outcomes?
Why do you think the negative effects are stronger for Black and Hispanic individuals with hearing loss?
What policies or supports do you think would make the biggest difference for young adults with hearing loss entering the workforce?
