Introduction

The Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic (CPS-ASEC) Supplement provides valuable data on household income, employment status, and demographics, capturing detailed information across households, families, and individuals. Disabled individuals in the U.S. often face barriers to employment, with higher unemployment rates and lower wages compared to non-disabled individuals. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) plays a crucial role in supporting those with disabilities, but it may also influence their decisions regarding employment.1 This analysis aims to explore how the presence of a disabled family member and SSI contributions impact household income and employment outcomes, examining whether SSI affects the employment status of disabled individuals and the behavior of other household members.

Does the presence of a disabled family member or a disability family member who cannot work affect the employment status of other household members?

Firstly, we want to know whether having a disabled family member or a disability family member who cannot work impacts the employment status of other household members. This table has five columns and three rows, summarizing key differences in employment outcomes. The data indicate that the proportion of household members working full-time is almost 4 percentage lower in families with a disabled member compared to those without one. Additionally, the unemployment rate among other family members is almost 4 percentage higher in households with a disabled member than in households without. These findings suggest that the presence of a disabled family member who cannot work may influence the labor status of other household members, potentially due to increased caregiving responsibilities or other household obligations. This impact highlights an area for policymakers to consider when designing support programs for families with disabled individuals, ensuring that the needs of the entire household are addressed.

Status Total_count_each_status_other_family_members Prop_other(%) Total_count_each_status_normal_family_member Prop_normal(%)
Full time 880 60.68966 52576 64.68663
Part time 163 11.24138 8723 10.73230
Not in labor force and Unemployed 407 28.06897 19979 24.58107

What is the contribution of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to total household income, and how does it affect the employment status of those with disabilities in the household?

Then we wanted to understand the extent to which SSI supports low-income households with disabled individuals and how it relates to the employment status of disabled individuals. First, we focused on calculating the proportion of SSI in total household income. Since our research aims to examine the impact of SSI on households with disabled members, we filtered the data to include only households with at least one disabled member. In addition, for the accuracy of the results, our results included only households with reasonable SSI contribution rates (extreme outliers due to negative total household income are excluded).

Average Ratio (%) Median Ratio (%) Max Ratio (%) Min Ratio (%) Households with ssi SSI Proportion (%)
26.97538 19.43348 95.73542 0.0009434 151 13.48214

In the dataset, a total of 151 households with disabled members receive SSI, accounting for 13.48% of all households with disabled members. On average, SSI contributes approximately 26.98% of total household income for these households, indicating that it serves as an important supplementary income source. Additionally, the median value (median = 19.43%), which is lower than the mean, alongside a maximum value close to 100% (max = 95.74%), suggests that a small portion of these households rely almost entirely on SSI as their income source. Given the extremely small minimum (min = 0.0009%), there are large differences in income status among disabled families receiving SSI. These differences may be influenced by factors such as household size and the severity of disability, and assistance policies could be adjusted to address these differences more effectively.

Next, we analyzed how SSI affects the employment status of disabled household members.

Received SSI Employed - at work (%) Not in labor force - disabled (%) Not in labor force - other (%) Not in labor force - retired (%) Unemployed - on layoff (%) Employed - absent (%) Unemployed - looking (%)
Yes 6.837607 70.94017 13.67521 7.692308 0.8547009 0.000000 0.000000
No 62.536190 15.22872 11.87030 4.284887 0.6369427 2.663578 2.779386

According to the table and figure above, the employment rate for disabled individuals in households receiving SSI (6.84%) is significantly lower than in households not receiving SSI (62.5%), with approximately 92% of SSI recipients not participating in the labor force. This aligns with our expectations; however, it is notable that a small portion of SSI recipients are on layoff status. Additionally, among those not receiving SSI, there is a small group on layoff or seeking employment. These groups could be prioritized for additional support.

Summary

One ethical issue to consider when analyzing this data is the differences in other additional financial burdens faced by people with disabilities in real situations. We cannot assume that disabled families with higher SSI or other incomes face less financial pressure. When formulating specific policies, factors such as family debt, overall medical conditions, and regional differences need to be considered.

Future policymaking could consider providing additional support, such as medical care, for families with disabled members who rely solely on SSI for income. Furthermore, policies should offer targeted employment assistance to disabled individuals who are willing and able to work, including resources like job training and flexible work opportunities with more accessibilities.

  1. Debra L. Brucker & Corianne Payton Scally (2015) Linking public housing,employment, and disability benefits for working-age people with disabilities, Housing and Society,42:2, 126-147, DOI: 10.1080/08882746.2015.1076130↩︎