Social Security releases fact sheets on all sorts of demographics of people who collect Social Security benefits. One of the more interesting fact sheets Social Security released a few years ago examined the education levels of people who received Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. According to Social Security’s fact sheet on the subject, there was virtually no difference between the percentages of people who collect disability benefits of those with four-years of college education compared to people with just a high school education. Below we examine some of the more interesting results of the study as documented through Social Security’s fact sheet.
- In 2013, the Social Security Administration paid disability insurance benefits to about 1.6 million beneficiaries with 16+ years of education and to about 1.3 million disability beneficiaries with less than 12 years of education.
- Disability insurance benefits constituted at least 75 percent of personal income for 60 percent of disability insurance beneficiaries with 16+ years of education and 60 percent of disability insurance beneficiaries with less than 12 years of education.
- Approximately 10 percent of disability insurance beneficiaries with 16+ years of education receiving disability insurance benefits in 2013 did not have health insurance compared to 7 percent of those with less than 12 years of education. Disability insurance beneficiaries are eligible for Medicare, but only after a two-year waiting period.
- The aggregate annual poverty gap for disability insurance beneficiaries with 16+ years of education who received disability insurance benefits in 2013 was approximately $6.6 billion when family income did not include disability insurance benefits compared to $720 million with disability insurance benefits included in family income. The poverty gap measures the dollar amount of additional income necessary to lift members of a group to just above the poverty level. • The aggregate annual poverty gap for disability insurance beneficiaries with less than 12 years of education who received disability insurance benefits in 2013 was approximately $8.3 billion when family income did not include disability insurance benefits compared to $1.4 billion with disability insurance benefits included in family income.
