SSI and Adults with Disabilities

Abstract

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is under close scrutiny because of the increase in the number of adults with disabilities on SSI and the low rate of their return to employment. So far, the focus of investigations by federal agencies and academics has been on the individual characteristics of these SSI recipients and the inner workings of the program. As a result, the interventions now in effect and those under consideration tend to focus on individual circumstances. This article presents the results of an empirical study, based on county-by-county data, indicating that an external factor—the unemployment rate in the county—is a strong correlate of the rate of SSI participation by adults with disabilities. On the basis of these findings, the author recommends using different types of programs, ranging from vocational rehabilitation to wage subsidies to moving expenses, and other goods and services to bring back into the labor force as many adults with disabilities as possible.