Mapping the Growth of Disability Claims in America

Basically a grassroots UBI movement.<p>Will be interesting to follow these numbers when self-driving semi-trucks start taking over.<p>Edit: I meant similar to UBI in the sense that the group that views themselves as unemployable has found a way to get the government to supply a &quot;basic income&quot;. I&#x27;m aware it doesn&#x27;t fit the idea in other ways. It is clearly, though, being used by people that are not suffering a real disability.

This American Life did a good report on this a few years back. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.thisamericanlife.org&#x2F;radio-archives&#x2F;episode&#x2F;490&#x2F;trends-with-benefits" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.thisamericanlife.org&#x2F;radio-archives&#x2F;episode&#x2F;490&#x2F;...</a>

In my view, the biggest problem with this program is it isn&#x27;t based on whether you can work, it is based on whether you can work at any job available in your hometown.<p>If any job that the person could do is available anywhere in the country, then instead of perpetual disability payments, perhaps the government should help relocate people to places where there is viable employment. Otherwise, places where there simply aren&#x27;t any jobs become perpetual resource drains on society and also aren&#x27;t truly helping those people live fulfilled lives.<p>While you have a right to economic opportunity (and disability payments if you truly cannot perform any form of work), you don&#x27;t have a right to opportunity or payments in a specific, random place in the country. The same people who want these handouts are the descendants of people who migrated from other continents in search of a better life. We should expect them to do the same and be willing to move to the more prosperous cities of our country.

It seems pretty clear people are using disability benefits as an income safety net, perhaps while they wait to reach the regular social security eligibility age.<p>Also interesting the regions with the highest percentage of claims are in deep red territory, where the political climate and political agenda is strictly anti-safety net. I wonder how that will work itself out.

People on SSDI are not counted as &quot;unemployed&quot;, IIRC. Which makes the <i>actual</i> unemployment rate much higher.

It&#x27;s interesting to note changes in the type of disability claims. It looks like there has been a dramatic decrease in disability claims arising from circulatory and nervous system illnesses, likely due to improving health conditions in the workplace. But those gains seem to have been eaten up completely by a dramatic rise in musculoskeletal and mental illnesses. There doesn&#x27;t seem to be any rational explanation for these as I&#x27;m sure the modern work place is much less physically strenuous and much less mentally taxing that what existed in the 60s. Could these be explained by the dramatic rise in psychologists and chiropractors that have started diagnosing people that would not have sought or would not have been eligible for disability benefits in times past?

Interesting to compare that map with the cause of death maps in this study in JAMA. <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;jamanetwork.com&#x2F;journals&#x2F;jama&#x2F;fullarticle&#x2F;2592499" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;jamanetwork.com&#x2F;journals&#x2F;jama&#x2F;fullarticle&#x2F;2592499</a>

would love to see a cross reference with obesity rates and other negative health behaviors. CP is an odd one because it can afflict you greatly or little, but it still is life altering. Comparing similar to non permanent issues is a bit unfair to those who had no choice in how their life was.<p>anecdotal, the obesity numbers interest me because two relatives in a Midwestern state both are on SSID from obesity related issues.

Just looking at the map, I conclude that a lot of people are going to be really surprised that the president they voted for, who stated among other things during the campaign his undying dedication to preserving Social Security, has appointed a Secretary of Health and Human Services who wants to cut its benefits 20%.