How Working age People with Disabilities Fared over the 1990s Business Cycle

Using data from the March Current Population Survey (CPS) we show that while the longest peacetime economic expansion in United States history has increased the economic well-being of most Americans, the majority of working age men and women with disabilities have been left behind. Robust economic growth since the recession of the early 1990s has lifted nearly all percentiles of the income distribution of working age men and men without disabilities beyond their previous business cycle peak levels of 1989. In contrast, the majority of working age men and women with disabilities did not share in economic growth over this period. Not only did their employment and labor earnings fall during the recession of the early 1990s but their employment and earnings continued to fall during the economic expansion that followed

Economics of Disability Research Report #5: Economic Outcomes of Working-Age People with Disabilities over the Business Cycle – an Examination of the 1980s and 1990s

We examine the rate of employment and the household income of the working-age population (aged 25-61) with and without disabilities over the business cycles of the 1980s and 1990s using data from the March Current Population Survey and the National Health Interview Survey. In general, we find that while the employment of working-age men and women with and without disabilities exhibited a procyclical trend during the 1980s business cycle, this was not the case during the 1990s expansion. During the 1990s, the employment of working-age men and women without disabilities continued to be procyclical, but the employment rates of their counterparts with disabilities declined over the entire 1990s business cycle. Although increases in disability transfer income replaced a significant fraction of their lost earnings, the household income of men and women with disabilities fell relative to the rest of the population over the decade

The Transformation in Who is Expected to Work in the United States and How it Changed the Lives of Single Mothers and People with Disabilities

In the 1990s, social expectations of single mothers shifted towards the notion that most should, could, and would work, if given the proper incentives. This shift in expectations culminated in the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in 1996, commonly known as welfare reform. As a result, ADFC/TANF caseloads fell along with cash transfers to single mothers who did not work. A decade later the earnings and household income of single mothers are significantly higher and moving more in synch with the U.S. economy. In stark contrast and despite espoused goals to the contrary, public policies toward working age men and women with disabilities have remained imbued with the notion that most cannot and thus, would not work, no matter what incentives they faced. As a result, SSDI/SSI expenditures and caseloads have increased and the earnings and household income of working age men and women with disabilities have fallen, leaving them even further behind the average working age American than they were a decade ago. Using data from the Current Population Survey we follow the economic well-being and employment of single mothers and working age men and women with disabilities over the past two major United States business cycles (1982-1993 and 1993-2004) and show that despite the dramatic decline in AFDC/TANF funding, single mothers’ economic well-being, labor earnings and employment all have risen substantially. In contrast, despite the dramatic increase in SSDI/SSI funding, the economic wellbeing of working age men and women with disabilities remained stagnant, as their labor earnings and employment plummeted.

Curing the Dutch Disease: Lessons for United States Disability Policy

In the 1990s, the United States reformed welfare programs targeted on single mothers and dramatically reduced their benefit receipt while increasing their employment and economic wellbeing. Despite increasing calls to do the same for working age people with disabilities in the U.S., disability cash transfer program rolls continue to grow as their employment rates fall and their economic well-being stagnates. In contrast to the failure to reform United States disability policy, the Netherlands, once considered to have the most out of control disability program among OECD nations, initiated reforms in 2002 that have dramatically reduced their disability cash transfer rolls, while maintaining a strong but less generous social minimum safety net for all those who do not work. Here we review disability program growth in the United States and the Netherlands, link it to changes in their disability policies and show that while difficult to achieve, fundamental disability reform is possible. We argue that shifts in SSI policies that focus on better integrating working age men and women with disabilities into the work force along the lines of those implemented for single mothers in the 1990s, together with SSDI program changes that better integrate private and public disability insurance programs along the lines of the reforms in the Netherlands, offer the best hope of improving their employment rates and economic well-being as well as reducing SSDI/SSI program growth.

Characteristics of the Menstrual Cycle After Discontinuation of Oral Contraceptives

Background: Menstrual cycle function may continue to be altered after discontinuation of oral contraceptives (OC). Few studies have been published on the effects of recent OC use on menstrual cycle parameters; none have examined characteristics of the menstrual flow or the quality of cervical mucus. The purpose of this retrospective matched cohort study is to assess biomarkers of the menstrual cycle after discontinuation of OCs. Methods: Among a sample of women who daily recorded observations of menstrual cycle biomarkers, 70 women who had recently discontinued OCs were randomly matched by age and parity with 70 women who had not used OCs for at least 1 year. Outcomes investigated included overall cycle length, length of the luteal phase, estimated day of ovulation, duration of menstrual flow, menstrual intensity, and mucus score. Differences between recent OC users and controls were assessed using random effects modeling. Results: Recent OC users had statistically significantly lower scores for mucus quality for cycles 1 and 2. Additionally, OC users had a later estimated day of ovulation that was statistically significant in cycle 2 and a decreased intensity of menstrual flow that was significant in the first four cycles (difference = −0.48 days). In random effects modeling, all these parameters were significantly different for the first six cycles combined. Conclusions: Menstrual cycle biomarkers are altered for at least two cycles after discontinuation of OCs, and this may help explain the temporary decrease in fecundity associated with recent OC use

Protecting Working-Age People with Disabilities: Experiences of Four Industrialized Nations

Although industrialized nations have long provided public protection to working-age individuals with disabilities, the form has changed over time. The impetus for change has been multi-faceted: rapid growth in program costs; greater awareness that people with impairments are able and willing to work; and increased recognition that protecting the economic security of people with disabilities might best be done by keeping them in the labor market. Here we describe the evolution of disability programs in four countries: Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States. We show how growth in the receipt of publically provided disability benefits has fluctuated over time and discuss how policy choices played a role. Based on our descriptive comparative analysis we summarize shared experiences that potentially benefit policymakers in all countries