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- Title
U.S. Disability Policy in a Changing Environment.
- Authors
Burkhauser, Richard V.; Daly, Mary C.
- Abstract
This article evaluates the goals and effectiveness of the U.S. disability policy. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) was created in 1956 through Title II of the Social Security Act. In 1973, Title XVI of the Social Security Act federalized a collection of state-run programs for the aged, blind and disabled to create Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The goal of SSDI is to provide earnings replacement insurance for those who exit the labor force because of disability. Since it is an insurance program, benefits are not means-tested. In contrast, SSI is a means-tested transfer program aimed at the aged, and the disabled. Employment rates for those with disabilities as well as caseloads for SSDI and SSI have varied greatly, fluctuating with the economy, changes in benefit eligibility criteria and the implementation of other public policies intended to support people with disabilities. The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) challenged the conventional wisdom that working-age people with disabilities could not and hence should not be expected to work. Proponents of the ADA argued that unequal access to jobs was the primary barrier to employment. In the extreme version of this view, there are no disabled workers, only a society that does not fully accommodate its citizens.
- Subjects
UNITED States; DISABILITY laws; EMPLOYMENT of people with disabilities; DISABILITY insurance; SOCIAL security
- Publication
Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2002, Vol 16, Issue 1, p213
- ISSN
0895-3309
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1257/0895330027067