Characteristics, Employment, and Sources of Support Among Working-Age SSI and DI Beneficiaries

Helping people with disabilities find and keep jobs is a key component to reducing dependency on Social Security disability benefits. The Ticket to Work program aims to do that by offering people with disabilities greater choice in service providers and access to more employment options. The latest report from Mathematica’s Ticket to Work program evaluation presents results from the National Beneficiary Survey, administered each year from 2004 through 2006. The findings indicate that many beneficiaries of Social Security disability insurance were working and engaging in work-preparation activities, and many more saw themselves working in the future. However, a host of common experiences among beneficiaries stood between them and employment including poor health, inaccessible workplaces, low levels of education that may limit their employment opportunities, and fear of jeopardizing their benefits by earning above the Substantial Gainful Activity limit. The Ticket to Work program has the potential to address some of these issues by providing greater economic incentives for employment and reducing the varied employment-related obstacles many beneficiaries face.