The opportunity costs of Social Security's hidden work disincentives: A policy analysis.

摘要

Much concern has been raised about the financial sustainability of the Social Security Administration. Additionally, many political and humanitarian concerns have been raised about the employment levels of people with disabilities who receive disability transfer payments. This paper examines Social Security's disability policies and work incentives in the year 2007. The examination finds that living in near poverty is a requirement to receive disability benefits, and that many hidden work disincentives exist. To assess the opportunity costs to society from Social Security maintaining overly restrictive policies, an analysis was performed using data from 2006 to estimate a range of the net costs and benefits associated with removing the restrictions.