People in poverty are significantly more likely to have or incur a disability within their lifetime compared to more financially privileged populations. The rate of disability within impoverished nations is notably higher than that found in more developed countries. Since the early 2010s there has been growing research in support of an association between disability and poverty and of a cycle by which poverty and disability are mutually reinforcing. Physical, cognitive, mental, emotional, sensory, or developmental impairments independently or in tandem with one another may increase one's likelihood of becoming impoverished, while living in poverty may increase one's potential of having or acquiring disability in some capacity.

A multitude of studies have been shown to demonstrate a significant rate of disability among individuals living in poverty. The evidence on the association between disability and poverty was recently reviewed in the United Nations' first Flagship Report on Disability and Development The association between disability and poverty has been shown to be stronger when poverty is measured multidimensionally as multiple deprivations compared to when it is measured through income or consumption expenditures. World Bank President James Wolfensohn has stated that this connection reveals a link that should be broken. He stated, "People with disabilities in developing countries are over-represented among the poorest people. They have been largely overlooked in the development agenda so far, but the recent focus on poverty reduction strategies is a unique chance to rethink and rewrite that agenda." The link between disability and development has been further stressed by Judith Heumann, the World Bank's first advisor for international disability rights, who indicated that of the 650 million people living with disabilities today eighty percent live in developing countries. Additionally, some research investigations with proved social impact are opening venues that lead to establish enabling factors to break the cycle of deprivation faced by poor people with disabilities. According to the United Kingdom Department for International Development, 10,000 individuals with disabilities die each day as a result of extreme poverty, showing that the connection between these two constructs is especially problematic and deep-seated. This connection is also present in developed countries, with the Disability Funders Network reporting that in the United States alone those with disabilities are twice as likely to live below the poverty line than those without disability.

According to the World Bank, "Persons with disabilities on average as a group experience worse socioeconomic outcomes than persons without disabilities, such as less education, worse health outcomes, less employment, and higher poverty rates." Researchers have demonstrated that these reduced outcomes may be attributed to a myriad of institutional barriers and other factors. Furthermore, the prevalence of disabilities in impoverished populations has been predicted to follow a cyclical pattern by which those who live in poverty are more likely to acquire a disability and those who have a disability are more likely to become impoverished.

Experts from the United Kingdom Disabled Persons Council attribute the connection between disability and poverty to many systemic factors that promote a "vicious circle". Statistics affirm the mutually reinforcing nature of disability and low socioeconomic status, showing that people with disabilities are significantly more likely to become impoverished and people who are impoverished are significantly more likely to become disabled. Barriers presented for those with disabilities can lead individuals to be deprived of access to essential resources, such as opportunities for education and employment, thus causing them to fall into poverty. Likewise, poverty places individuals at a much greater risk of acquiring a disability due to the general lack of health care, nutrition, sanitation, and safe working conditions that the poor are subject to.

Experts assert that this cycle is perpetuated mainly by the lack of agency afforded to those living in poverty. The few options available to the poor often necessitate that these individuals put themselves in harms way, consequently resulting in an increase in the acquisition of preventable impairments. Living in poverty is also shown to decrease an individual's access to preventive health services, which results in an increase in the acquisition of potentially preventable disabilities. In a study by Oxfam, the organization found that well over half of the instances of childhood blindness and hearing impairment in Africa and Asia were considered preventable or treatable. Another estimate released by Oxfam provides further evidence of this vicious circle. They found that 100 million people who in poverty also have impairments acquired due to malnutrition and lack of proper sanitation.

Prejudice held against individuals with disabilities, otherwise termed ableism, is shown to be a significant detriment to the successful outcomes of persons in this population. According to one study following the lives of children with disabilities in South Africa, the children in the sample described "discrimination from other children and adults in the community as their most significant daily problem." Additional forms of discrimination may lead disability to be more salient in already marginalized populations. Women and individuals belonging to certain ethnic groups who have disabilities have been found to more greatly suffer from discrimination and endure negative outcomes. Some researchers attribute this to what they believe is a "double rejection" of girls and women who are disabled on the basis of their sex in tandem with their disability.

The stereotypes that accompany both of these attributes lead females with disabilities to be seen as particularly dependent upon others and serve to amplify the misconception of this population as burdensome. In a study done by Oxfam, the societal consequences of having a disability while belonging to an already marginalized population were highlighted, stating,

"A disabled women suffers a multiple handicap. Her chances of marriage are very slight, and she is most likely to be condemned to a twilight existence as a non-productive adjunct to the household of her birth... it is small wonder that many disabled female babies do not survive."