Social Security Disability Filing

The
Relationship between Social Security Disability Filing and the Economy

 

Sophia
T. Chiremba and Sharon A. DeVaney, Purdue University, and

Alan
Alexander, Social Security Administration

 

Abstract

 

The Social
Security
Administration (SSA) has observed increased disability filing during
economic
troughs. These increases demand more trained personnel in SSA offices
to
process the influx of filings. Primarily for planning purposes, the SSA
offices
at the local level have expressed a desire to be able to forecast or at
least
predict disability filing by investigating any relationship between
filing for
disability benefits and the economy. Local area data from two SSA
Indiana
offices shows a positive relationship between the number of disability
filings
and the Consumer Price Index for the Midwest region and weighted
average
monthly unemployment rates of the counties administered by the offices.