Project: DESIGNING A PROJECT TO TEST AN EARNINGS OFFSET FOR SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY INSURANCE BENEFICIARIES    

Sponsor: Social Security Administration through Abt Associates  
Status: In process   
IPS Staff: Burt S. Barnow

Purpose and Approach
Under current law, individuals who qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance have their benefits reduced dollar for dollar if they receive earnings above certain levels, or if they are not in what is referred to as the “trial work period.” This is believed to create a strong disincentive for beneficiaries to seek full-time work and in the past less than one percent of beneficiaries exited the program due to earnings each year. For this project, the team is designing a random assignment demonstration project that will involve several alternative grant reduction schemes and work support strategies to help beneficiaries participate in the labor market. The contract has been extended by the Social Security Administration to implement the demonstration and conduct the evaluation. Current work by IPS staff includes recruiting and developing agreements with local workforce investment boards to provide services to participants.

Results and Publications
Forthcoming.