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Disability Insurance Income Saves Lives

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  • Alexander Gelber
  • Timothy Moore
  • Zhuan Pei
  • Alexander Strand

Abstract

We show that higher payments from US Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) reduce mortality. Using administrative data on new DI beneficiaries, we exploit discontinuities in the benefit formula through a regression kink design. We estimate that $1,000 more in annual DI payments decreases the annual mortality rate of lower-income beneficiaries by approximately 0.18–0.35 percentage points, implying an elasticity of mortality with respect to DI income of around −0.6 to −1.0. We find no robust evidence of an effect of DI income on the mortality of higher-income beneficiaries.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander Gelber & Timothy Moore & Zhuan Pei & Alexander Strand, 2023. "Disability Insurance Income Saves Lives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 131(11), pages 3156-3185.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/725172
    DOI: 10.1086/725172
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    Cited by:

    1. Black, Bernard & French, Eric & McCauley, Jeremy & Song, Jae, 2024. "The effect of disability insurance receipt on mortality," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    2. Becker, Sebastian & Gehlen, Annica & Geyer, Johannes & Haan, Peter, 2024. "Income Effects of Disability Benefits," IZA Discussion Papers 17298, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Pichler, Stefan & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2024. "Sick Leave and Medical Leave in the United States: A Categorization and Recent Trends," IZA Policy Papers 206, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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