Annual Statistical Report on the Social Security Disability Insurance Program, 2000

Income of Disabled Beneficiaries

Individual Income

Notes

The Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) is a household survey of the noninstitutionalized resident population of the United States, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The survey was designed to improve the measurement of the economic situation of persons, families, and households in the United States and to provide a tool for managing and evaluating government transfer and service programs.

The 1996 SIPP panel consists of 12 interviews, or waves, each of which gathered 4 months of retrospective data. The sample includes approximately 36,000 households. The SIPP has been matched to SSA administrative records. Receipt of disability benefits is based on December 1998 SSA records, while all other characteristics and income amounts are taken from the SIPP. The estimates are weighted using SIPP sample weights to produce population estimates.

Poverty calculations based on the SIPP use survey-reported family income for 1998. The poverty thresholds also are provided in the SIPP and are adjusted for family size and composition. In 1998, the poverty threshold for a one-person family under age 65 was $8,480. For a four-person family with two related children under the age of 18, the poverty threshold was $16,530.

SIPP and SSA counts of disabled beneficiaries differ because the SIPP excludes people living in institutions or outside the continental United States. And, the match rate between the SIPP and SSA records is not a perfect match. Furthermore, the SIPP estimates are based on a sample and therefore are subject to sampling error. Standard errors can be used to measure this sampling variability. Various sources of nonsampling error also may be important.

Because the SIPP uses a complex sample design, it is inappropriate to calculate standard errors assuming a simple random sample. Doing so will result in estimated standard errors that are biased downward. Rather than attempting to provide tables with approximate SIPP variance estimates, the interested reader is referred to the Source and Accuracy Statement for the 1996 Public Use Files from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, available on the SIPP Internet site at www.sipp.census.gov/sipp/sourceac/s&a96_040501.pdf. The source and accuracy statement provides information on direct calculation of standard errors for SIPP estimates. It also provides detailed instructions for calculating standard errors using generalized variance parameters and simplified tables.

Table 45. Selected characteristics, December 1998
Characteristic Number of disabled beneficiaries Percentage distribution
Total a Workers Adult
children		 Total a Workers Adult
children
All disabled workers and disabled adult children 6,039,819 5,158,545 772,507 100.0 100.0 100.0
Sex
Men 3,524,438 3,048,809 468,694 58.4 59.1 60.7
Women 2,515,382 2,109,736 303,813 41.6 40.9 39.3
Race
White 4,756,006 4,099,373 568,138 78.7 79.5 73.5
Black 1,142,576 949,186 178,256 18.9 18.4 23.1
American Indian, Alaska Native 90,551 64,114 21,300 1.5 1.2 2.8
Asian, Pacific Islander 50,686 45,872 4,814 0.8 0.9 0.6
Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic 5,649,663 4,852,556 699,444 93.5 94.1 90.5
Hispanic 390,157 305,990 73,064 6.5 5.9 9.5
Age
Under 25 148,570 28,802 119,767 2.5 0.6 15.5
25-34 616,417 396,441 219,975 10.2 7.7 28.5
35-44 1,188,745 968,478 220,267 19.7 18.8 28.5
45-54 1,702,449 1,607,604 94,845 28.2 31.2 12.3
55 or older 2,383,638 2,157,218 117,653 39.5 41.8 15.2
Years of education
Unknown 9,174 9,174 0 0.2 0.2 0
0-8 1,030,000 642,331 357,303 17.1 12.5 46.3
9-11 1,029,707 916,855 90,879 17.0 17.8 11.8
12 2,164,207 1,863,777 266,931 35.8 36.1 34.6
13-15 1,229,337 1,179,585 35,936 20.4 22.9 4.7
16 or more 577,394 546,823 21,459 9.6 10.6 2.8
Marital status
Married 2,661,071 2,647,511 9,632 44.1 51.3 1.2
Nonmarried
Never married 1,826,546 1,066,811 759,735 30.2 20.7 98.3
Divorced or separated 1,155,141 1,152,000 3,140 19.1 22.3 0.4
Widowed 397,061 292,223 0 6.6 5.7 0
Family size
1 person 1,820,615 1,504,984 243,130 30.1 29.2 31.5
2 persons 2,065,996 1,865,164 169,523 34.2 36.2 21.9
3-4 persons 1,658,502 1,387,670 266,018 27.5 26.9 34.4
5 or more persons 494,706 400,727 93,836 8.2 7.8 12.1
Household size
1 person 1,424,628 1,229,291 131,014 23.6 23.8 17.0
2 persons 2,285,734 2,053,706 195,153 37.8 39.8 25.3
3-4 persons 1,748,952 1,443,544 297,981 29.0 28.0 38.6
5 or more persons 580,505 432,003 148,359 9.6 8.4 19.2
Under age 18 in household
None 4,738,295 3,987,447 650,294 78.5 77.3 84.2
1 person 680,734 601,900 70,765 11.3 11.7 9.2
2-3 persons 561,214 509,622 51,449 9.3 9.9 6.7
4 or more persons 59,575 59,575 0 1.0 1.2 0
Health insurance coverage
Medicare 4,529,176 3,879,068 561,171 75.0 75.2 72.6
Medicaid 2,415,203 1,836,086 529,032 40.0 35.6 68.5
Private insurance 2,671,514 2,449,011 175,301 44.2 47.5 22.7
No insurance 238,859 208,971 29,888 4.0 4.1 3.9
Source of individual income
Earnings b 1,406,786 1,190,381 203,240 23.3 23.1 26.3
Supplemental Security Income 1,480,711 1,092,703 347,405 24.5 21.2 45.0
Pensions 653,038 601,889 4,210 10.8 11.7 0.5
Public assistance 189,885 154,283 31,977 3.1 3.0 4.1
Total annual family income (dollars)
None c 18,201 11,659 6,542 0.3 0.2 0.8
1.00-4,999.00 97,307 89,345 7,963 1.6 1.7 1.0
5,000.00-9,999.00 1,244,748 1,018,806 176,594 20.6 19.7 22.9
10,000.00-14,999.00 703,952 586,225 101,136 11.7 11.4 13.1
15,000.00-19,999.00 635,682 511,258 111,677 10.5 9.9 14.5
20,000.00-24,999.00 428,146 348,484 63,755 7.1 6.8 8.3
25,000.00-29,999.00 409,438 380,487 28,951 6.8 7.4 3.7
30,000.00-34,999.00 510,926 437,052 69,946 8.5 8.5 9.1
35,000.00-39,999.00 385,268 329,483 55,785 6.4 6.4 7.2
40,000.00 or more 1,606,151 1,445,747 150,157 26.6 28.0 19.4
SOURCE: 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) matched to SSA administrative records.
NOTE: Individuals receiving disability benefits in December 1998 are identified using SSA administrative data. The unweighted sample size is 1,039 cases for disabled workers and 142 cases for disabled adult children. The unweighted sample size is less than 30 cases for disabled widow(er)s and is deemed too small to support statistically reliable estimates.
a. The total is different from the sums of disabled workers and disabled adult children because disabled widow(er)s are not being displayed due to sample size constraints.
b. Can include pre-disability earnings, sick payments, and short-term disability payments.
c. Misreporting in the SIPP likely produced the small number of disability recipients with nonreported family income in 1998.
CONTACT: Paul Davies (202) 358-6225 for further information.
Table 46. Social Security as a percentage of personal income, December 1998
Characteristic Total number Under 25%
of income		 25-49%
of income		 50-74%
of income		 75-99%
of income		 100%
of income
Disabled workers
All disabled workers 5,158,545 20.3 18.8 22.4 24.3 14.3
Sex
Men 3,048,809 18.6 21.2 23.0 21.8 15.4
Women 2,109,736 22.6 15.4 21.7 27.7 12.6
Race
White 4,099,373 19.7 20.1 21.9 25.2 13.1
Black 949,186 20.8 14.1 24.7 20.7 19.8
American Indian, Alaska Native 64,114 a a a a a
Asian, Pacific Islander 45,872 a a a a a
Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic 4,852,556 20.0 19.0 23.1 23.4 14.6
Hispanic 305,990 25.0 15.4 12.3 37.5 9.8
Age
Under 25 28,802 a a a a a
25-34 396,441 25.5 17.7 32.5 16.7 7.6
35-44 968,478 23.5 15.9 23.5 20.2 17.0
45-54 1,607,604 20.0 19.7 19.2 24.8 16.3
55 or older 2,157,218 18.3 19.2 22.3 27.4 12.8
Marital status
Married 2,647,511 22.5 22.1 20.2 24.7 10.5
Nonmarried 2,511,034 17.9 15.3 24.9 23.8 18.2
Years of education
Unknown 9,174 a a a a a
0-8 642,331 16.5 14.1 18.9 38.6 12.0
9-11 916,855 17.3 14.4 22.0 25.5 20.9
12 1,863,777 22.0 19.2 22.7 23.2 12.9
13-15 1,179,585 19.6 19.4 24.0 20.9 16.2
16 or more 546,823 23.9 29.4 23.6 16.7 6.5
Living arrangement
Alone 1,229,291 17.0 14.8 21.6 24.8 21.9
With others 3,929,254 21.3 20.1 22.7 24.1 11.9
Disabled adult children
All disabled adult children 772,507 22.0 16.0 23.2 19.0 19.9
Sex
Men 468,694 25.4 15.2 17.2 20.4 21.8
Women 303,813 16.8 17.2 32.3 16.8 17.0
Race
White 568,138 17.7 18.2 24.1 21.7 18.3
Black 178,256 33.3 8.5 17.2 13.0 27.9
American Indian, Alaska Native 21,300 a a a a a
Asian, Pacific Islander 4,814 a a a a a
Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic 699,444 20.7 16.4 20.5 20.4 22.0
Hispanic 73,064 a a a a a
Age
Under 25 119,767 a a a a a
25-34 219,975 25.4 17.5 22.9 11.9 22.2
35-44 220,267 33.9 8.4 21.2 19.7 16.8
45-54 117,653 a a a a a
55 or older 69,458 a a a a a
Marital status
Married 9,632 a a a a a
Nonmarried 762,876 21.5 16.2 23.0 19.2 20.2
Years of education
Unknown 0 a a a a a
0-8 357,303 18.4 14.1 28.4 21.3 17.8
9-11 90,879 a a a a a
12 266,930 19.7 19.5 26.5 12.1 22.3
13-15 35,936 a a a a a
16 or more 21,459 a a a a a
Living arrangement
Alone 131,014 21.6 13.4 29.3 25.1 10.5
With others 641,493 22.0 16.5 21.9 17.7 21.8
SOURCE: 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) matched to SSA administrative records.
NOTES: Individuals receiving disability benefits in December 1998 are identified using SSA administrative data. The unweighted sample size is 1,039 cases for disabled workers and 142 cases for disabled adult children. Disabled widow(er)s are excluded because the unweighted sample size is less than 30 cases, which is deemed too small to support statistically reliable estimates.
a. Sample size is too small to support statistically reliable estimates.
CONTACT: Paul Davies (202) 358-6225 for further information.