I have handled disability cases as a lawyer for over 25 years. The comments are a prime example of how we as humans take data and mold it to fit our assumptions and long-settled world view. Many, if not most, of the comments make the assumption that this data tells us people are leaving the social security disability roles. One "progressive" leaning comment suggests that the disabled are leaving the disability rolls because the ACA may have afforded medical treatment and improved health to the disabled. Others who undoubtedly live off a steady diet of Fox News suggest the social security administration is finally cracking down on the disability grifters.
Yet the author states in his footnote as follows:
"Being “disabled” in the C.P.S. does not necessarily indicate that the person is also participating in a public disability benefit program such as Social Security Disability Insurance (S.S.D.I.) or Supplemental Security Income (S.S.I.)."
Gee, what a surprise -- not. It was never a secret that if one was over 40 and lost one's job, and did not have extraordinary amounts of retirement savings, going on disability (SSDI) was for many people the only way to avoid living in a cardboard box. There are different levels of disability -- some are truly so disabled they cannot work at all. Others are somewhat disabled but capable of working if employers will give them a chance. The ones who can work are much more likely to get the chance when there is full employment. If there is a lot of slack, the young and optimally healthy will get the job instead. With labor markets tightening, employers must look again at the over-40, some of whom have medical conditions that could be potentially disabling, but may be able to be accommodated or better managed. We could avoid this if we had long-term unemployment insurance like they do in -gasp- socialist places like Britain and France. Then people wouldn't have to play games to get support when they are unable to find work. Age discrimination is reality, and as soon as the economy slackens, those older workers will be let go again -- so what are we going to do about it this time?
4
The decline may be due to the die off of older men due to gun suicide, cirrhosis, and opiate poisoning - the so called diseases of despair. Sometimes a bad stat underlies a good one.
3
People with disabilities are often able to work, but maybe not under a strict 9-5 long commute situation. Employers have a lot of power to make their jobs more friendly to quality people who have many medical appointments or who cannot travel to an office every day. Further, as employers look past the "What daddy did" traditions and really think about what and who they need, when they can't fill jobs, they are able to tap in to the larger pool of available workers.
You don't have to be a 'slacker' or 'faking it' as is so often alleged to be able to work at one job but not to be able to work at every or any job.
My husband has a telecommute job and had a period of time where due to a back injury he was unable to drive but fully able to work. It wasn't until I took him to one of his appointments and mentioned off hand that he couldn't drive safely that I fully realized how dire the situation could have been for us.
2
With the large numbers of people with dementia and the high cost of care for them, it was interesting to see such a low number of people not working due to 'family care'.
3
What we see with the unbridled, ethics-free capitalism at the heart of the Republican worldview that is taking over much of American culture is that the only value any human has is reduced to how much money they can "earn" and/or accumulate.
They stopped using the terms Makers and Takers after Romney lost, but they still see anyone without adequate, in their judgement, employment as a leech on society.
This is the age of the Prosperity Gospel. We have become an anti-Christian-in-practice nation.
4
In 2007, I was diagnosed with a chronic disease, along with several other conditions, that plus treatments rendered me unable to work. I applied for disability, since my employer had fired me while I was in the hospital getting diagnosed after acute-onset. I didn't have any personal support system, but all the doctors were sure I'd get welfare or disability benefits. I could get neither. To get assistance, one must be blind, elderly, a minor, a mother with children, or on SSI disability. So I applied for the disability, and was rejected, to the shock of my doctors, who couldn't fathom why I had to live on credit and go into debt up to my eyeballs just to keep a roof over my head.
Now if I had managed to get SSI, my benefit would have been about $1,400/mo, disqualifying me from State assistance, think the limit was about $750. I would like to ask anyone reading this article how in hell anyone can live on that.
After months of searching and some healing, I finally found a new job and went back to work. I didn't do this because I felt able to, I did this because I did not want to live in poverty. I am still working 10 years later, am fortunate to have an employer with generous disability policies. But I'm increasingly frightened for my future. Every day is painful, every day is difficult, every day is like running a marathon uphill, and I'm exhausted. What's the alternative, besides homelessness?
7
I don't understand why some people have so much trouble getting onto disability with so much documentation from doctors.
I applied for it online. My surgeons told me I could no longer do the work I was doing ( installing voice and data cabling.) I was self employed and had been for years but for almost 4 years I was unable to take a paycheck. Work had dropped so much that I couldn't keep employees.
As I noted above I applied online. I was approved in two months and was given 12 months back pay for the time I was unable to earn. (The limit is 12 months.) The letter confirming my disability also said that I would not be reevaluated since my disabilities were so severe. A few days later I received a letter telling me I was eligible for Medicare a god send since I was on my wife's work policy for $400 a month. Last year I turned 66 and was informed that I was no longer on Disability but had been moved to Social Security.
I found that the system had worked as it is supposed to. I think one factor was documentation. I kept copies of every doctor appointment notes and all the surgery notes. All of it is necessary for Social Security to make its deliberations. I guess if you make it easier for them they make it easier for you.
1
The difference may also be due to which condition you suffer from. If you had a easily documented injury and numerous surgeries, you may have been granted disability more readily than someone who has a less cut-and-dried disability such as fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. Those conditions can be disabling, but frustratingly hard to diagnose and document. Unfortunately, biases exist and who is disabled or not is determined by some human's judgment.
1
Any correlation to less availability or abundance of illegal workers?
Deportations, enforcing our immigration laws, stopping more at the borders and maybe less coming into the country all have some effect on more jobs, no?
4
Many, including some Federal Reserve officials have expressed bewilderment as to why labor force participation has not recovered as it had in prior recessions. I would suggest that for some the answers can be found in the spam folder of their email accounts.
The spam folder in my email account contains numerous emails from attorneys promising that they can get me disability payments. If the labor force participation rate, especially for prime working-age males ages 25-54, had followed its typical cyclical pattern, the unemployment rate would now be well above 5.0%. The headline U-3 unemployment only counts those actively seeking work as in the labor force and unemployed.
As was pointed out in "Disability's Disabling Impact On The Labor Market" http://seekingalpha.com/article/3342635 historically labor force participation has behaved cyclically in the midst of a slightly declining trend. Dubious and fraudulent disability claims have vastly increased the number of those collecting disability with commensurate decreases in labor force participation and the unemployment rate. A segment on CBS "60 Minutes" quoted employees of the Social Security Administration and administrative law judges who asserted that lawyers are recruiting millions of people to make fraudulent disability claims. One such judge said "if the American public knew what was going on in our system half would be outraged and the other half would apply for benefits.".."
http://seekingalpha.com/article/4008403
2
The Wall Street Journal a few years ago reported on a judge in West Virginia who was approving 100% of appealed cases most of which were coming in from one law firm.
Questioned about it the judge said that the people applying were unable to find work since the mines were being closed down and most were too old or just unable to be trained for new work. Many of the people were semi-literate at best so he considered that a disability. He was past retirement age so he retired but it does explain why for years West Virginia had the most people living on Disability than any other state.
1
It also shows why we need some form of long-term unemployment insurance so that disability is not the only option. The judge is correct in that there are many people who get laid off at an age where few employers will hire them, and even fewer would consider investing funds to retrain them. What do we do with a 50-something, semi-literate coal miner? What do we do with those too young (or poor) to retire, but too old (or unskilled) to get hired?
2
That region has billboards along the roadside with attorneys advertising for "clients" to apply for disability (much as one may see billboards for personal injury or bankruptcy services in urban areas).
I don't want to disparage the communities, but it seems that this goes along with a higher level of drug use as well in the same regions (generally depressed rural towns).
Part of the issue is lack of educational opportunities and a lack of jobs, as you note.
By the way, referring back to the WSJ story, there was the appearance that the judge may have been getting financial benefits from the attorney. The system can be corrupt, even if the judge believed he was "doing the right thing".
Let's not forget the Republican controlled states like Wisconsin that have recently passed legislation to provide welfare on the condition that recipients pass drug tests and have employment.
Income inequality grows with the Trump tax cuts so that life gets easier for the wealthy and harder for the poor.
2
If you're truly disabled, you should not need to hire a lawyer to get disability benefits.
6
Karen K--you are so wrong (not to mention naive about disability and SSDI). I had a friend (now deceased) who was turned down twice(maybe three times) for SSDI. He was a professional researcher who wanted to continue to work, but his doctors thought otherwise. He had the severe kind of MS (the one which often sends people to an early grave). He had many legal battles and finally (within the last few years of his life) got the benefits he deserved/needed. Did I mention he had a mountain-load of medical files? Smh. People are so ignorant about disability.
3
I think a reason for the increase in disability (or claimed disability) is men who could not find employment offering sufficient compensation for their needs.
When a man is in this situation he can apply for disability benefits.
His claim may not be completely fraudulent. Middle-aged and older men typically have health issues.
If such a men then receives an attractive job offer, he may leave disability status.
1
I'm permanently disabled-partially blind, horribly crippled and with multiple ongoing morbidities yet what keeps me going is the hope that someday I may return to basic medical research, where I made a small contribution. I'm also facing multiple upcoming surgeries-knee replacements, vascular surgery possibly and more surgeries to my eyes. Even if I were to return to the workforce-I would be severely limited and disabled. Yet hope springs eternal.
5
I am still waiting for information some good research on employment changes for the 54 to 65 (or 68-70) American from 2000 onward, through the Great Recession to this moment.
While 25 to 54 may be "prime earning years" and of great interest, what of the even older worker who surely expected to be employed to age 65 or longer per conventional retirement, and was dumped in 2008-2009? Did they get back to work? If so, where? How did they do? The whole story is only half told if nothing is known of the 54+ worker through that catastrophe. And so far, we got nothing.
12
Exactly. Older people will be the absolute last ones to be hired despite experience, expertise, knowledge, and work ethic to the max. And if you're lucky enough to be employed, no matter how solid your work, assume you'll never get a raise, never be on the most creative projects, and you will experience ageism, if not outright humiliation, every working day.
7
Try being older AND disabled---bottom of the barrel as far as employers are concerned--and that will never change.
In every Republican administration since 1945 there has been a major recession. I am sure this will happen with Trump giving so much tax breaks to the rich ,corporations and the workers. The scary scenario with Trumps economic recession there are no safety nets for people.
8
Isn’t this the same group that has been disproportionately dying from diseases of despair per the Case and Deaton studies?
Is it possible that the decline in people on disability comes in part from them drinking or injecting or taking pills to get out of hopelessness?
6
I lost my job nine years ago. It was a rare good job, in a rural area. Any similar jobs would be as much as a daily 100 mile round trip, for me. I would need to sell my home, and move from my home of 17 years. Who would hire a college educated, highly experienced, 70 year old, now?
14
The total failure of workers compensation insurance across America has forced injured and diseased workers to other sources of income, SSDI for example. Study after study has shown the cost of workplace injuries (especially disease) are payed by society, not the responsible party (the employer). It is very common for company HR staff to direct their walking wounded to SSDI and away from workers comp. And for those workers who rightly file a comp claim it becomes a battle royale to win any benefits (this is most evident in disease cases). The stigma of being not loyal or labeled a fraud has been very effective in directing them to the social safety net as well. The other side of this story is the failure to prevent these preventable injuries and diseases due to our government's addiction to protect profits over people. The nuking of the ergonomic regulations by the never before used the CRA (congressional review act) is just one example of many.
17
“Disabled” is not equivalent to actual inability.
5
Some disabled ARE completely un-able. I have a neighbor, who fell off a 7 story building and lived. That was 9 years ago, and he has been harassed, and payments delayed, the entire time. He's even been spied upon. Today, he needs a lung transplant, because of his injuries from the fall, but the "authorities" think he should get a job. Really? Whaddya think about this?
2
Every "disabled" worker who collected disability benefits and claimed that they were incapable of working, and has now been miraculously cured and returned to work, should be prosecuted and forced to return their disability payments. The words crook and scam are appropriate for people who take taxpayer money under false pretenses.
8
If you read the whole article, you will know that the term disabled does not mean they were receiving disability benefits. Also, there is such a thing as disability insurance, both short term and long term, that provides some income when you are dealing with a health issue that prevents you from working, like cancer. Others may simply rely on other family members for financial support. It is extremely difficult to get SSDI - years of hearings. And yeah, maybe some of those may eventually be able to recover from a disability or find different work that they can do and rejoin the workforce. That doesn’t make them criminals.
9
I was approved two months after applying on line. Provide documentation making SS's job easier and they make it easier for you.
Paul--you can't expect to punish people who can now (for whatever reason) return to the workforce. On the hand, you're probably one of those screamers who complain and carry on about "those disabled" who are "lazy". Sorry, you can't have it both ways. Either you want those who can work to do so or you accept that some people are too disabled to work and leave it at that. You don't punish people for getting to a point where they can work (some people can recover to a point but are still disabled) when they're officially disabled. That's not how it works. Btw, it's not "your" money that they're using.
If you want to complain about real fraud, how about venting your frustration on Wall Street workers who took from all of us. Oh, right, everyone thinks they "worked" for those billions.
2
Is this really a case of disabled workers being included in the economy? Could it not also be the case that social protections for disabled workers are so minuscule that they're being forced into work and those who are near disabled are staying on because they're too worried about lack of protections for the unemployed? I'm just not sure there's much to be positive about in this article. If anything it points to the gross over exploitation of America's workforce.
13
The reason “disabled” are going back to work is there are jobs available. Not necessarily good jobs- any job. As a healthcare provider, over the past 15 years, I’ve seen thousands of people- civilian, and perhaps even more military marching into the arms of disability. If a person is a 24 year old soldier with a wife and kids being downsized out of a job with health benefits that pays $4000/ month if housing is factored in... and you are looking at having to compete for $11/ hour options w/ no benefit after discharge... those aching feet and sore back are going to quickly become “disabling”. I can’t even say I blame them.
8
I don't collect disability. But, I am at home for medical reasons. There is one thing this article left out. Why are these formerly disabled people able to go back to work? Improved health care due to the affordable care act. They are now in better health. Another reason might be more employers are accommodating their needs so they can work but only very specific jobs at specific places. My concern is that this article will lead people to think these formerly disabled people were "gaming the system" and not really disabled in the first place. While true for a small percentage, it is significantly harder to get disability benefits then most people realize. Research before judging. Remember, not all disabilities are visible.
24
Disabled people did not have to wait for the Affordable Care Act.
After 24 months on SSDI, Social Security Disability Insurance, the disabled person automatically has Medicare.
And if the disabled person has few assets and very little income, s/he is eligible for Supplemental Security Income, SSI, the Federal welfare program that is administered by the SSA.
Qualifying for SSI automatically brings Medicaid and SNAP as part of the benefit package; no waiting period as with SSDI.
6
24 months is a very long time to be without medical care if you are fighting a chronic illness or injury.
Our system has almost no recognition of the fact that you can be too sick to work for a period of months and that most of us cannot go months without income. In the meantime, the additional financial stress plus potentially a lack of access to needed care can make what should be temporary much longer or permanent.
1
Thanks for the well researched article. I especially liked the links to the journals at the end and the various graphs. Since the population changes each year the first graph would have been better had it shown percentage instead of absolute numbers. Still good and important stuff.
Is it possible that a rising tide lifts all boats and that since the economy is doing better the disabled are able to find more work? The fact that there wasn't a large increase during the 2008 recession (refer to first graph in the article) would suggest this is not causal. I think it has much more to do with getting proper health care.
It would be interesting to see two data analyses: First, chart the number of uninsured with those taking benefits; second see if these trends hold across all states; some states have restrictive health care and others have health care for all. Is there a relationship with more people taking benefits / out of workforce in the states with more uninsured?
2
This article is very encouraging and shows what could happen if low-skill immigration were under control. Although a large low-wage labor pool appears to reduce certain costs, that reduction is overwhelmed by the large government subsidy that is required for each low-wage immigrant. Government expenditures are over $20,000 a year per resident of the United States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_government_budget
https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-country/
and are proportionate to the number of residents. Check Canada and Australia. The proportionality implies the expenditures required for a new resident are on average over $20,000 per year, and far more per worker since less than half of the population works. When immigrants do not offset the additional cost of their presence through taxes, their presence is being subsidized. Imagine what would happen if employers were required to offset the costs through a tax to hire a non-citizen. How can anyone with a heart for American citizens with disadvantages not support E-Verify, an elimination of extended-family immigration benefits, and the elimination of the immigration lottery--measures that would improve wages, employment, and working conditions.
6
I would like an article about the 55+ age group - how are they faring? Not so well, I can tell you. All the articles seem to focus on how low the unemployment rate is and they cite the under 54 age group, leaving out the 55+ which has a very high rate of unemployment and nothing is being done to address these people.
31
And they wonder why they aren't saving enough or anything for retirement....
5
Voltaire said, "Work saves us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need".
What should a country do to help keep its citizens employed? Facilitating employment certainly is high on the list. But for decades the USA has facilitated the movement of our manufacturing base to other countries. In the Sixties, the American Automobile Workers union had bumper stickers reading, BUY A FOREIGN CAR, PUT AN AMERICAN OUT OF WORK.
In the 70's, 80's steel mills, heavy equipment mfg and many textile mills closed. NAFTA in 1994 shut the doors on remaining textile and apparel plants.
Wealthy importers grew wealthier. Manufacturing employees grew poorer as government's social policy put millions out of work.
Millions applied for SSDI. Many doctors were sympathetic to their plight: "But in many pockets of the country, there's much more to the story. Factories and mills have closed and the U.S. economy has left behind millions of workers who now find themselves unfit or unqualified for the jobs that remain.
"For many, going on disability is the answer. In some counties, nearly one in four working-age adults are not working because they are disabled, one in four." https://www.npr.org/2013/03/25/175293860/in-one-alabama-county-nearly-1-...
Many countries protect their citizens by keeping plants open, limiting imports and controlling immigration so its most vulnerable citizens are not priced out of the labor market.
What will the USA do?
11
Have Americans been using disability, like welfare, as a temporary parking place until they can find their way back to work?
Like Parkinson's Law that work expands to fill the time allowed for it, our citizens will also consume benefits provided to them. The question for me is whether those benefits were enabling not working or the cause of re-entering the workforce.
Benefits are a double-eged sword, as those studying the effect of Medicaid expansion on drug overdoses are learning.
13
Our government's social policy has created many problems, and among those problems is the monumental loss of jobs through laws such as 1994's NAFTA and similar laws in the 1970's and 1980's.
The loss of full-time manufacturing jobs with decent wages and fringe benefits including medical insurance and retirement plans, has enriched other countries and enriched Wall Street.
But that loss has weakened its citizens.
The loss of full-time manufacturing jobs has increased the national debt.
This loss has contributed to the breakdown of the family, as a young man cannot marry the woman he loves and form a family, providing structure for rearing children.
Government reports data on newly-created jobs, but doesn't report how many of those jobs are part-time, with low wages and no benefits. We need those metrics as well.
I don't recall the source of this quote: "Everyone needs someone to love, someone to love them back, and something to do". Far too many working-age people don't have anything to do. The economy we created to replace manufacturing left them behind, left them bereft, left them without hope.
It's way past time to return to the days when the USA had millions of full-time jobs. The USA needs to protect its people from low-wage competition including imports and uncontrolled immigration.
4
Not to worry, the people that voted in all these "fair trade" laws were well taken care of. They have their iron clad government pensions, health care for life and lucrative jobs as lobbyists after they left office.
I mean, thats what it is all about, Isn't it?
1
For some people, disability benefits are used as a sort of extended unemployment insurance. No one with skills or education wants to do low-wage, menial work when they can't find work commensurate with their abilities. This is especially true when the net wages are barely more than the benefit check.
If you're an unemployed adult without children at home then government doesn't offer you much after unemployment insurance runs out. Most people with any significant work history are going to have assets that make them "too rich" to be eligible for other benefits. Ergo, SSDI is one of the few avenues people can follow, if they can demonstrate some sort of illness or injury.
3
Going from disability to construction work sounds like a big turnaround in health status to me. I think people who haven’t been able to find work might describe themselves as disabled to avoid stigma. I’m glad the job market is finally finding them !
11
Many people are collecting disability for psychotic disorders when actually they never had a psychotic episode when they weren’t using drugs. Stopping the drug abuse can bring about a major turn around. Also time heals.
1
@Ginger You forgot that not all disabilities are physical, and not all construction work requires full mobility and senses. The majority of people with disabilities finding work in construction probably have mild to moderate intellectual impairment, IQ range 50-70 and functioning at a middle school level. They generally can only work as helpers under direct supervision, but are hardworking, loyal to good bosses, and proud to work if given the chance. Someone in a wheelchair cannot climb around on scaffolding but if you've got a zillion boards to cut you can set him up an adapted workstation and he can cut the boards. Detail work like sanding surfaces with hand tools can be done by a blind person. A deaf person can work in any environment where there is the possibility to communicate in writing. Now that the cream on top is getting thin, people whose applications used to get tossed the moment it became known that they had a disability are getting a chance.
A fine February employment report, but not for the reason you’re thinking! Why? And why did the American Job Shortage Number, or AJSN, improve by a third of a million? See http://worksnewage.blogspot.com/2018/03/february-tremendous-employment-m....
Americans are experiencing change for better in many ways in recent months and it is good to know disabled workers are finding opportunities.
8
Can we please remember that people no longer looking for jobs are not counted in our unemployment figures? Come to Flatbush. Stroll any summer weekday, mid-day, on Ocean Avenue near Prospect Park. Lots of men. They're not all schoolteachers on vacation.
25
Perhaps they are waiters, authors, composers, or molecular geneticists who do not work traditional business hours.
2
Interesting, the percentage of those who are not working due to illness/disability peaks and begins to decline in 2014. The same year that Obamacare was fully implemented. I wonder how many were able to return to work because they finally had access to consistent, affordable medical care for chronic conditions.
60
I couldn’t agree more. I see many people disabled by an illness who couldn’t go back to work because they couldn’t risk losing disability- associated healthcare by going back to work, either because of “pre-existing condition” exclusions or because the next flare-up might mean job (and coverage) loss. I would suggest analyzing the data based on state—comparing states that expanded Medicaid vs those that didn’t. My guess is the states that expanded Medicaid availability also saw higher return to work rates. That should help inform the debate about work requirements for benefits too. My experience is that most people want to work. I believe eliminating barriers is more effective than setting up punishments.
22
I wonder if the downward trend of disabled people tracks with the number of deaths due to drug overdoses.
In 2014, there were more than 47,000 deaths due to drug overdoses; in 2015, the number was more than 55,000. In 2016, there were more than 64,600 drug OD deaths in the United States. 2017 numbers are expected to be 64,000+.
I suspect a correlation between the two, as many drug addicts begin the process for getting SSI when they are ordered into a treatment program by a judge or brought by desperate families.
Many if not most of the residential treatment programs for substance abusers assist with the application for SSI when the patient is admitted. Supplemental Security Income is the welfare program administered by the SSA, and is means-tested, not work history/contributions tested. SSI approval also brings Medicaid, to pay for the treatment. SNAP for food is part of the benefit package.
Sources: CDC and https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/05/upshot/opioid-epidemic-dr...
6
Yes!!! physical therapy is expensive but very very beneficial for folks suffering from musculoskeletal injury. We have also become more aware that inflammatory diseases can be helped by exercise and by low carb diet. All this can decrease disability.
1
I don’t understand this emphasis on everybody working— even at slave wage jobs that won’t pay the rent or put food on the table
Nobody is living a life of luxury on disability.
People really hate the poor.
45
People resent working long hours, especially at jobs they dislike, while others choose to take money from them and not work.
The problem seems to be the perception that benefits come from some amorphous money source. Benefits come from the tax dollars collected from taxpayers. They have a right to question how their tax dollars are spent. It is, after all, their money to begin with.
9
Working, aka "contributing to society", is a requirement to be a member of any society. If you are not contributing, you are a burden on the other members.
Safety net programs are available to bridge the gaps in someone's ability to contribute.
2
@AACNY: I would glad if none of my tax dollars went to support the military-industrial complex, which is the biggest vampire of all when it comes to tax dollars. I would much prefer to have huge amounts of money going to support the arts and education in this country.
But I am not going to get my way, am I? Because too many rich people's incomes depend on the survival and expansion of the US military-industrial complex.
So you -- and anyone else who resents their tax dollars going to support the social safety net that is needed for all of the citizens who are left out of the profit-making machine called the military-industrial complex -- are actually in the same boat as the rest of us, who are sick of seeing our hard-earned dollars go straight into weapons manufacturing, fossil fuel companies, Wall Street, and the US military.
7
Bottom line: A strong labor market is the best social policy because it helps everyone. The disabled are the last in line, and so we finally can give a cheer for true prosperity. All of this is vindication for our government policies since 2009.
5
Actually, at the rear of the queue (behind the disabled) are the workers over 50 (or 40) who were purged from corporate payrolls during the Great Recession and labeled "unemployable." Corporate executives fervently hope that all those discarded people will either die or return to the landfills where they belong before they get anywhere near the front of the queue.
Politicians pretend this cohort of discarded, unemployable sub-humans don't exist. That's most likely because those politicians' donors are the ones who took advantage of the Great Recession to "unlock shareholder value" by discarding them, and would prefer that the rubbish quietly disappear. I don't quite understand why corporate media like the NYTiumes also ignore that discarded cohort in articles like this. Maybe important advertisers are also corporations that discarded the workers, and they would prefer the media to avoid calling attention to something they want to quietly disappear.
4
The portion of disabled people in the USA is always higher than measured in the statistics. The disabled want to to work and don't want to be treated differently because of their disability.
A large proportion of disabled adults managed to find work in the strong economy of the 1990's, but under W, far fewer new jobs were created. Discouraged disabled applied for SSDI to survive. Now that unemployment is low, more jobs are to be had so fewer disabled are attempting to collect SSDI.
More of the Disabled are looking for work. When they find work, they are HURT by Information technology, not HELPED. Scheduling is designed to obtain the maximum possible hours from the worker WITHOUT giving the worker any benefits. Most of the time, the disabled worker, like most minimum wage workers today, is treated as an independent contractor, with NO benefits at all. The disabled person is a worker, but not an employee with benefits.
We have made a political choice to give the benefits of IT to the Rich and to force the detriments upon the Poor. IT is used to REDUCE the standard of living of the Poor. The Poor now have to make do with LESS and the Disabled with even less than that.
19
What would offer a much better clue is when employers stop discriminating against people in their 50s and 60s, stop underpaying women and minorities, stop outsourcing, stop with the contract and temp jobs, and start to pay decent wages, put out realistic requirements for the jobs they want to fill, and stop expecting people with experience to work for entry level wages.
Disabled or not, people ought to be able to expect their pay to provide them with enough money to support themselves. And, disabled or not, age should not be used against people. The online forms that keep on asking us to identify our races, if we are disabled, if we were veterans, when we graduated from high school and college, these forms are designed to allow employers to discriminate by age, gender, race, and disability. And that's why so many qualified unemployed Americans cannot find jobs. It's not because they aren't looking or aren't willing to work. It's due to businesses not wanting to hire them in order to avoid paying or investing in them.
It's always nice to know how little value you have.
64
Amen sister. Amen.
5
Just think what will change when the rampant, badly abused, little audited so-called skilled worker visas, the H1b, L1 and B1 visas are brought under control!
6
Someone should look into some omitted variables involved with this data. For example, the occurrence of wars with these periods of high disability growth. A lot of people came back form Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan missing arms, legs, or came home with PTSD. Are these people included in the data? Is this a possible factor?
4
I personally know quite a few people who are "disabled" and living off the taxpayer dole who sure have time to volunteer, drive around, dine out with friends, take trips, etc. Glad to see that some are starting to have a conscience.
8
The portion of disabled people in the USA is always higher than measured in the statistics. The disabled want to to work and don't want to be treated differently because of their disability.
A large proportion of disabled adults managed to find work in the strong economy of the 1990's, but under W, far fewer new jobs were created. Discouraged disabled applied for SSDI to survive. Now that unemployment is low, more jobs are to be had so fewer disabled are attempting to collect SSDI.
More of the Disabled are looking for work. When they find work, they are HURT by Information technology, not HELPED. Scheduling is designed to obtain the maximum possible hours from the worker WITHOUT giving the worker any benefits. Most of the time, the disabled worker, like most minimum wage workers today, is treated as an independent contractor, with NO benefits at all. The disabled person is a worker, but not an employee with benefits.
We have made a political choice to give the benefits of IT to the Rich and to force the detriments upon the Poor. IT is used to REDUCE the standard of living of the Poor. The Poor now have to make do with LESS and the Disabled with even less than that.
2
it would be interesting to see how much of this decline is due to crackdowns on fraud. California cracked down on disability fraud and my contribution to this state disability insurance fund fell dramatically.
10
SSDI is absolutely NOT living on the "taxpayer dole." Those are taxes taken out of paychecks, for which the disabled person had to have worked a minimum of years prior to disability.
I am personally so sick and tired of people whining and carrying on about those "disability frauds and fakers". Disability has absolutely nothing to do with "having a conscience." I frankly wish people would mind their own business. If you are healthy, count yourself extremely lucky because that's not a lifetime state of being.
You know who doesn't have a conscience--workers who use the office internet to play solitaire, shop online. Then there are those people with kids who take off just to watch their kids play baseball or some such thing. Or the workers who sit around gossiping, drinking coffee, making personal phone calls. Yeah, I've worked with those people and there are plenty of them.
Count your lucky stars if you have good health, but don't think it'll last forever.
17
The disabled worker is the hardest to employ simply because most employers do not want to hire the disabled. I don't care what statistics say--they don't get to the heart of the matter. No employer wants to spend the extra dollars to insure a worker with a disability and/or illness. They also don't want to make "reasonable accommodations" to keep that disabled employee able to continue with their job.
Yet, fools, like many of the people commenting here still insist that the disabled "need" to work or else they are "frauds."
Btw, Goodwill, among other like organizations employ the disabled at BELOW MINIMUM WAGE. Yes, and that apparently is legal. Shocking right--but I guess all you people who just want to make every single disabled person works don't care if it's slave labor. Hey, "those people" are employed! Yeah! Let's pat ourselves on the back and collect our double bonuses and fat checks--and congratulate ourselves on a bigger paycheck because of having to pay LESS TAXES. Yeah, aren't we such wonderful, beautiful, caring citizens, I mean, really, we're the best because now we don't even have to pay HEALTHCARE for "those people" because *wink, wink* we all know "those people"--even the ones in the wheelchairs have to be faking it. I mean, everyone can work, right? No time off for the doctor, either--you have to make sure all those disabled frauds keep their nose to the grindstone. Yeah, we're such good Christians, too, because isn't the United States a Christian country?
39
Charity is a personal endeavor, not a government imposition.
You rob a person of their choice to provide charity if you take it out of their paycheck without their consent.
" . . .as people who cited health reasons for not working are returning to the labor force."
Can we PLEASE be honest and call this what it is?
People are coming off of welfare. "Disability" is the socially-acceptable euphemism for welfare for a certain sector of our population.
10
They were not necessarily receiving disability
They called themselves 'disabled' when ask in the monthly BLS if they were working or looking for work and if not why not.
Calling themselves 'disabled' is NOT the same thing as being disabled.
Odds are they were NOT receiving SSD (Soc Sec Disability for those who worked enough but became disabled)
Odds are they called themselves "ill" or "disabled" to avoid admitting that they didn't have the skills to get hired in a labor market awash with job seekers.
14
The severity of a disability depends on whether there is work available that you can do. You may not be able to do the work you did, because of a physical or mental impairment, but if there are other opportunities, you may be able to find work at something new.
6
The data just makes no sense to me. Disability should not fluctuate with job market demands. The only explanation is that disability may be "conditional" to some people, which should not surprise anyone anyway. Of course (some) people abuse social safety net. I bet some of the same people used to show up at work to collect paychecks. Work to them doesn't have much meaning or fulfillment. Human nature is ugly and we are seeing it everyday. I really hope to see some changes. There should be more coordinated efforts to use "disabled" able-bodied people for some basic work which can benefit the society. Yes, we want to be compassionate. But the system must be fair and smart. Unfortunately, this new data is not very encouraging.
I have a few suggestions. For people collecting disability benefits, they should report to some community centers such as community farms, daycares, call centers, garment factories, etc. Public transportation will be provided if necessary. Daycares can be offered. Jobs will be assigned based on interests, skills and physical conditions. By asking these people to contribute, we can grow more local vegetables, make more products locally and build a stronger community. In other words, we are going to rebuild our comminities by asking every member to contribute. Socialists got it so wrong. They merely promote handouts. Instead, my idea is based on community efforts. To make America great again, we should rebuild our communities and bring back ownership!
3
JESUS!
Like someone in a wheelchair can pick fruit. dig in the dirt or work in manufacturing!
Like someone on oxygen can run after kids in a daycare
ANd you would expect me - massive orthopedic injury that limits my ability to keyboard, lift anything, keep my balance when walking & causes pain that (according to the Cleveland Clinic) rises to a level that makes cancer a walk in the park & causes exhaustion that makes me unable to maintain focus for hours & can make driving difficult about 1/3rd of the time - to do what work with my DOCTORATE? Yeah DOCTORATE -way past your skill level of picking fruit or sewing or working on an assembly line skill or babysitting
Pick fruit? Run a sewing machine or dig in the dirt?(That nerve damage thing again like in keyboarding) Babysit obnoxious brats (I would rather strangle them or smack them when they whine! Loathe having to put up with rugrats.) And oh yeah, my mobility service dog for balance assistance & carrying stuff (a big dog weighing as much as I do) is always present.
Soc Sec Disability means having a condition that affects a major life function (breathing, seeing hearing, walking or moving etc) that will NEVER get better and makes you unable to do any work for which you are qualified.
Not even Soc Sec expects someone with a professional doctorate to babysit as a career alternative!
Before doing hat you suggest, I would kill myself.
No one has a bona fide job for people with substantial disabilities
38
You did not read the entire article. Disability was measured using CPS data, NOT receipt of SSI or SSDI benefits.
1
What these statistics show is what everyone knows. many, probably half, of the disabled aren't really disabled.
When given a choice of working for minimum wage and paying taxes or receiving disability benefits and free medical coverage and food and subsidized housing, you would have to be a fool or a saint to go to work.
Real disabled people want to work. Everyone on Welfare or Disability who is reasonably able to show up at a job, should be expected to work at some government job even if it is sitting in a wheelchair at the front door of a school. This will reduce fraud and give a sense of purpose to the disabled.
4
"Real disabled people want to work". Wanting is not the same as being able. How many disabled do you know? Not many, probably. Yet you "know", according to some mysterious "statistics" that half of the disabled aren't really disabled." You need to prove it or keep your "opinions" to yourself.
So, I'm really curious about what exactly a person in a wheelchair at the front door of a school would be doing?
What exactly would their job be--to work security, make sure students are not bringing in guns or other weapons? Btw, I love how you use an example of a person in a wheelchair and follow it up by stating "this will reduce fraud." So, you think people in wheelchairs are just "faking" their disability? Do you even realize how ridiculous that sounds?
The disabled have enough on their plate with managing their illness and disability. They don't need some half-baked idea about being "useful" or used as fake employment statistics.
36
Hi Norton
I have known a dozen people on disability. None of them were unable to work. Many of them worked off the books. They chose to go on disability because they couldn't earn enough to support themselves in a regular job and disability paid significantly more money with benefits. In many ways disability hurt their emotionally and mental health.
2
Temporary disability and illness really is a thing.
If it is so easy to get benefits, you have as much right as any other citizen to it. All you have to do is divest yourself of all your assets and enjoy the gravy train.
I was unable to work at full function for many months at one time. The difference for me was that my employer was ethical and valued me enough to work with me (let me put a couch in my office even) and gave me a mix of paid and unpaid leave and light duty until I was myself again. I could have easily been ditched by them and become unemployable.
2
Interesting data, one other point to make about this issue.
it is also possible that gov't is cracking down on fakers and it is harder to get on disability.
However the big related issue here is that you are much more legally protected if you are disabled then if you are a senior re getting a job.
When I was discriminated against re ageism, lawyers told me are you disabled? are you a woman? did you get harassed. I said no.
They all but told me to forget about it. Ageism is an accepted discrimination form in America.
The upshot should write more stories on this issue.
40
You didn’t read the entire article. The definition of disability is based on the CPS, not receipt of SSDI or SSI benefits.
4
guess people decided to stop being deadbeats and go back to work
2
Perhaps we simply have fewer disabled people. The ACA gave millions access to health care they didn't have before. The timing of the change and the fact that it is only the US seems to give credence to the hypothesis.
14
Your caveats notwithstanding, it was social security disability that created large numbers of 'disabled'. If lawyers are running TV ads and putting up giant billboards offering to obtain disability payments for nearly anyone, you know something is going on.
Of course the people collecting these benefits will say they're disabled and can't work if a survey asks them. That's their story, and they're sticking to it. Whatever money they earn is strictly cash under the table.
This makes it likely that they will only take a legit job if it pays well.
8
Jonathan, although what you say is true, you don't throw out the baby with the bath water.
My brother in law has severe epilepsy and without SS disability he would be selling apples on the street like in the Great Depression..
One can pervert anything including motherhood, apple pie and yes SS disability.
27
Social Security DISABILITY is an earned (meaning people must have a previous work history to qualify). It's different from SSI in that someone has not had the required minimum work history can qualify and receive benefits (i.e. children, etc.).
It's very difficult to get approved for Social Security DISABILITY. Most people are turned down on the first go-around. I've known people who have major illnesses such as Multiple Sclerosis who had to try more than once. It takes a lot of paperwork and documentation from doctors and other healthcare professionals.Many people need assistance in filing.
If you think it's such a walk in the park to live with a life-changing disability, you know nothing.
32
@Norton - Yes, people who are legitimately disabled may have a hard time getting it, but if you get the right lawyer it is not so hard. The most famous of these characters, the appropriately named Eric Conn, got over $600 million in fraudulent payments. The Feds are currently looking for him, but it appears he has managed to flee the US for parts unknown.
The article is misleading when it raises the question of whether the newly employed workers have found "high-quality jobs". Typically people who have been out of the labor force for a long time find themselves re-employed at lower level positions or even at entry level. Once they prove themselves as capable employees, then they move up the pay ladder. The best anti-poverty measure is employment because it provides both income and job-skills to the workers. A more skilled worker is more productive, and greater productivity results in higher incomes.
3
We might have fewer people leaving the work force if we had better protection for those having to take lower-paying jobs.
10
I see nothing really unusual in the data. The demand for workers has picked up. Boomers like myself are retiring at 10000 a day and the data doesn't reflect either the ageism or retirement numbers for those of us over 54. Given the likelihood of disability rises sharply for those 50 and over, the data presented does not capture the problem.
13
Interesting data. The author does not suggest any reasons for the changes except a strong labor market. But a skeptical reader might wonder whether to infer that many who say health reasons keep them from working are dissembling.
1
Martin raises a good point. However I would claim that, like supply-side-economics, it addresses only half of the problem. A skeptical reader might also wonder if those hiring managers who say that the disabled or the too-old cannot be usefully employed in their workplaces are dissembling. Employment is very much a two-sided transaction, where someone representing a company hires someone who has applied for work. To optimize a two-sided problem you have to look at both sides and at how these two sides interact.
6
Yes, some people may say they are disabled because they have been unable to get a job for other reasons. And yes, given that the older part of the distribution is what is re-entering the labor force, age discrimination could have a lot to do with what is happening. But if I understand the data in the article, the health reasons are self-reported and not dependent on what employers say.
In the last six weeks I've read stories about how employers are loosening their hiring practices to include more applicants with criminal histories including being prisoners on day passes, applicants with evidence of use of drugs and now so it seems more disabled people. This is all good news.
But it seems older workers are still left out in the cold.
25
Bingo Paul, see my post.
3
The timing of the turn in 2014 is highly correlated with the 2014 Rohrabacher–Farr amendment which allowed for the widespread growing acceptance of marijuana. Is there causation?
Possibly, by making it possible for addicted persons to work, or alternatively make it possible for disabled persons to use their marijuana medication at work this might have released an enormous and growing population back into the workforce.
Three cheers for a rational de-criminalization of a drug far safer than opioids
7