title: The impact of rehabilitation and counseling services on the labor market activity of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries.
abstract: We use data from a social experiment to estimate the impact of a rehabilitation and counseling program on the labor market activity of newly entitled Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries. Our results indicate that the program led to a 4.6 percentage point increase in the receipt of employment services within the first year following random assignment and a 5.1 percentage point increase in participation in the Social Security Administration's Ticket to Work program within the first three years following random assignment. The program led to a 5.3 percentage point increase, or almost 50 percent increase, in employment, and an $831 increase in annual earnings in the second calendar year after the calendar year of random assignment. The employment and earnings impacts are smaller and not statistically significant in the third calendar year following random assignment, and we describe SSDI rules that are consistent with this finding. Our findings indicate that disability reform proposals focusing on restoring the work capacity of people with disabilities can increase the disability employment rate.
authors.affiliation: Social Security Administration, 3501 Security Boulevard, 128 Altmeyer Building, Baltimore, MD 21235, USA. Robert.Weathers@ssa.gov
authors.forename: Robert R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Weathers
authors.forename: Michelle Stegman
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Bailey
mesh_terms: D003376:Counseling; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004608:Eligibility Determination / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D004651:Employment / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006078:Government Programs / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007342:Insurance Benefits / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018868:Insurance, Disability / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012050:Rehabilitation, Vocational; D012943:Social Security / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States; D019131:United States Social Security Administration / Q000191:economics; D014937:Work / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*