Working Paper: NBER ID: w24504
Authors: George J. Borjas; David J.G. Slusky
Abstract: The number of disability beneficiaries doubled in the past two decades. It is difficult to determine how much is explained by changes in health, as we lack a counterfactual. We use undocumented immigrants to form the counterfactual, as they cannot claim benefits. Using NHIS data, we show that the relationship between health and disability is stronger for the legal population than for the undocumented. Much of the difference in disability rates between the populations is due to different labor supply responses to underlying health impairments and demographic differences, rather than to differences in the impairments or demographic variables themselves.
Keywords: Disability; Health; Undocumented Immigrants; Labor Supply; Social Security
JEL Codes: I12; I18; J61
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| health impairments (I12) | labor supply responses (J20) |
| legal population's health (I14) | disability rates (J14) |
| undocumented immigrants' health (I13) | disability rates (J14) |
| disability benefits eligibility (H55) | reported disability rate (legal population) (J14) |
| disability benefits eligibility (undocumented) (H53) | disability rate (undocumented) (J14) |
| health conditions (I12) | disability status (eligible population) (J14) |