In France as elsewhere, disabled people suffer from structural marginalization in the labour market. Their situation can be described in terms of marginality in relation to employment (with an unemployment rate of 19 per cent and an activity rate of 35 per cent, compared to 10 per cent and 64 per cent respectively in the general population) and within employment (less qualified jobs, more frequent part-time work, lower pay) (Barhoumi and Chabanon 2015). What rights can they claim in this area, and what are the effects of existing policies?

The question of the realization of rights in employment is more complex than in the other areas analysed in this book. Unlike educational or social policies, where the public authorities have a central responsibility for the implementation of policies and the (non-)realization of users’ rights, in the field of employment their action, in a capitalist market economy, takes the form of mediation in relations between employers and employees. Although the state has been able to put in place, in the field of disability, binding measures vis-à-vis companies with the quota scheme (OETH), its capacity to influence access to employment and professional progression remains limited. The impact of public policy is strongly modulated by the economic context, the level of qualifications, the sector and the effect of other social inequalities (class, gender, ethno-racial inequalities).

Moreover, contradictory orientations coexist in public policy: between inability to work giving entitlement to benefits (AAH, disability pension) and rehabilitation and occupational integration policies, between sheltered and mainstream work, but also between categorical labelling within the quota scheme, and the promotion of non-discrimination.

To answer the question of the effects and uses of this public policy, we will first look at the individual relationship to employment. In a context where public policies make it possible to assert both a right to work and a right to not work (Bertrand et al 2014), how do people position themselves? The strong desire for employment comes up against the reality of a labour market that often allows only marginal forms of participation.