According to a new study by Bridget Shield and Mark Atherton on behalf of the non-profit organization Hear-it, around 22.6 million people in the EU live with an untreated, disabling hearing loss. The report estimates that untreated, disabling hearing loss in the EU costs 185 billion Euros (US$211 billion) each year—25 billion Euros more than the EU budget for 2018. The costs are related to lower quality of life and higher unemployment among people with a disabling hearing loss.