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Willing to Work: Brief Profiles Work-Oriented Social Security Disability Beneficiaries
Mathematica's Center for Studying Disability Policy Notes that 40 Percent Are Interested in Employment
Contact: Cheryl Pedersen, (609) 275-2258
Washington, D.C. (January 27, 2010)—Individuals who can no longer work because of a significant and long-lasting health condition are eligible to receive Social Security disability benefits. In fact, only about 10 percent of these beneficiaries are working at any given time. However, some want to get a job, advance in their existing positions, or learn skills. And even those not currently employed may see themselves as working in the future. A policy brief from the Center for Studying Disability Policy at Mathematica Policy Research discusses the characteristics of these individuals with work goals and describes their employment success.
Findings suggest that beneficiaries fall into three broad groups based on their work-related efforts and expectations. For 60 percent, gainful employment seems to be neither a plan nor an option. Some individuals are interested in working—20 to 22 percent—but have not engaged in any work-related activities or earned income from employment. Finally, 18 to 20 percent of the beneficiaries are actively pursuing and achieving their work goals.
“With up to 40 percent of working-age disability beneficiaries having work goals and expectations, it appears that both the government and program participants could greatly benefit from Social Security disability programs that provide greater economic incentives and supports for employment,” said Gina Livermore, a senior health researcher at Mathematica and author of the brief.
“Work-Oriented Social Security Disability Beneficiaries: Characteristics and Employment-Related Activities,” by Gina A. Livermore, is based on a report prepared for the Social Security Administration as part of Mathematica’s evaluation of the Ticket to Work program.
The Center for Studying Disability Policy supplies the nation's policymakers with the information they need to navigate the transition to 21st-century disability policy. It was established in 2007 by Mathematica to inform disability policy formation with rigorous, objective research and data collected from the people disability policy aims to serve.
Mathematica Policy Research, a nonpartisan research firm, provides a full range of research and data collection services, including program evaluation and policy research, survey design and data collection, research assessment and interpretation, and program performance/data management, to improve public well-being. Its clients include federal and state governments, foundations, and private-sector and international organizations. The employee-owned company, with offices in Princeton, N.J., Ann Arbor, Mich., Cambridge, Mass., Chicago, Ill., Oakland, Calif., and Washington, D.C., has conducted some of the most important studies of disability, health care, education, family support, employment, nutrition, and early childhood policies and programs.