Rethinking Active Citizenship: Lessons from Life-Course Interviews in Nine European Countries

Some countries have made considerable progress towards ensuring the conditions for persons with disabilities to exercise autonomy. Independent living has become a reality for a greater number of people through the granting of personal assistance or personal budgets, and making access to these a matter of individual right and not administrative or professional discretion. However, while a number of countries over some time have seen a process of deinstitutionalisation and a trend towards community living, although with somewhat different speed and timing, this process has stopped and to some extent even been reversed more recently. Despite a strong emphasis, both from the EU and national governments, on enhancing employment and economic independence among persons with disabilities, it is difficult to find a consistent and clear trend in this direction.