Trends in Disability and the Use of Disability Insurance

There is mounting evidence that the health of older, working age adults, the most frequent claimants of DI benefits, is worsening.  At the same time, there is some evidence from SSA actuaries that after adjusting for demographic factors, the percent of insured workers receiving benefits has leveled off or even declined in the current decade. The proposed research will update estimates of disability and limitations in physical functioning using the most recent nationally representative data, focusing on trends by age and cohort, and then compare these trends with trends in DI participation, and determine why the trends have diverged.