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Work Disability Among Native-born and Foreign-born Americans: On Origins, Health, and Social Safety Nets

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Demography

Abstract

Public debates about both immigration policy and social safety net programs are increasingly contentious. However, little research has explored differences in health within America’s diverse population of foreign-born workers, and the effect of these workers on public benefit programs is not well understood. We investigate differences in work disability by nativity and origins and describe the mix of health problems associated with receiving Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. Our analysis draws on two large national data sources—the American Community Survey and comprehensive administrative records from the Social Security Administration—to determine the prevalence and incidence of work disability between 2001 and 2010. In sharp contrast to prior research, we find that foreign-born adults are substantially less likely than native-born Americans to report work disability, to be insured for work disability benefits, and to apply for those benefits. Overall and across origins, the foreign-born also have a lower incidence of disability benefit award. Persons from Africa, Northern Europe, Canada, and parts of Asia have the lowest work disability benefit prevalence rates among the foreign-born; persons from Southern Europe, Western Europe, the former Soviet Union, and the Caribbean have the highest rates.

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Notes

  1. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is an earned benefit program for workers. It is distinct from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which pays benefits to individuals of very limited income and assets who are disabled, blind, or aged 65 and older. Unlike their SSDI counterparts, SSI benefits are not tied to a person’s work record. Our analysis focuses solely on eligibility and receipt of SSDI benefits.

  2. This mistake was made particularly often in the nonresponse follow-up, done by phone or in person. Many of the persons in the follow-up who responded affirmatively to the work disability question also reported that they were working, which led the bureau to realize that the disability question was being misunderstood (Stern 2003).

  3. The SSDI program operates in the territories, and thus the majority of persons in the SSA database who were born in the territories still reside in the territories. On the other hand, persons born in the territories are included in the ACS only if they currently reside in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia.

  4. Details on program eligibility can be found at the Social Security Administration website (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/credits.html#&a0=2).

  5. The 1996 Welfare Reform Act affected the eligibility of foreign-born individuals for many public assistance programs but not the SSDI program. Although the act barred illegal aliens from receiving SSDI benefits, the same individuals were also not eligible to obtain a SSN for work and thus would not be included in the data sets used in this analysis unless they obtained or used a number fraudulently.

  6. See the 2015 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds, available online (https://www.ssa.gov/oact/tr/2015/tr2015.pdf).

  7. We use the term “ratio,” rather than “rate,” because technical denials include people who lack a qualifying work history and are thus not a true subset of the insured population.

  8. Our population total rates are consistent with the annual rates reported by the SSA (https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/di_asr/2011/sect04.html).

  9. Totalization agreements are international social security treaties between the United States and other countries that eliminate dual Social Security taxation and provide benefit protection for workers who have divided their careers between the United States and another country. The United States has totalization agreements with Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom (42 U.S.C. § 433).

  10. Sensitivity analyses exploring alternative specifications of the age variable showed little to no effect on the origin coefficients or their statistical significance, although under one specification, the odds ratio for men born in the former Soviet Union increased from 1.10 to 1.14 and became statistically significant (results available upon request).

  11. The decade of arrival may have historical significance in addition to being a marker for the duration of time immigrants have spent in the United States, but the two effects cannot be disentangled.

  12. The ACS sample includes all working-age adults, while the SSA sample is limited to those who are disability insured.

  13. These data are available on the SSA website (https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/di_asr/2011/sect04.html).

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Acknowledgments

Michal Engelman is supported by the Center for Demography and Ecology (NICHD R24 HD047873) and Center for Demography of Health and Aging (NIA P30 AG17266) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Megan Zuelsdorff is supported by a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (T32 AG00129) from the National Institute of Aging. We thank Irma Elo, Joshua Garoon, and Robert Weathers for helpful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI, 53704, USA

    Michal Engelman

  2. Office of the Chief Actuary, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Bert M. Kestenbaum

  3. Center for Demography of Health and Aging, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Megan L. Zuelsdorff

  4. Department of Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Neil K. Mehta

  5. Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Diane S. Lauderdale

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  1. Michal Engelman
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  2. Bert M. Kestenbaum
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  5. Diane S. Lauderdale
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Correspondence to Michal Engelman.

Appendix: Composition of Geographic Regions Used in the Analysis

Appendix: Composition of Geographic Regions Used in the Analysis

United States of America

50 states and District of Columbia

U.S. territories (Guam, Northern Marianas, United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Puerto Rico)

Canada

Other Americas

Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama

Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint Eustatius and Saba, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Maarten (Dutch part), Saint Martin (French part), St. Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands

South America: Argentina, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Europe

Northern Europe: Åland Islands, Channel Islands, Denmark, Faeroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Guernsey, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Norway, Sark, Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands, Sweden, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Western Europe: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Switzerland

Southern Europe: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Gibraltar, Greece, Holy See, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, (the former Yugoslav Republic of) Macedonia

Former Soviet Union: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan

Other Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia

Africa

Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Réunion, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tunisia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Western Sahara, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Asia

Eastern Asia: China; China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; China, Macao Special Administrative Region; Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Republic of Korea

South Central Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka

Southeast Asia: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Viet Nam

Western Asia: Bahrain, Cyprus, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, State of Palestine, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

Oceania

Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna Islands

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Engelman, M., Kestenbaum, B.M., Zuelsdorff, M.L. et al. Work Disability Among Native-born and Foreign-born Americans: On Origins, Health, and Social Safety Nets. Demography 54, 2273–2300 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-017-0617-8

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