Exploring How People’s Characteristics, Contexts, and Life Events Predict Early Adult Participation in Supplemental Security Income
Download
Clients
Key Findings
Our findings suggest several conclusions about how characteristics, contexts, and life events can be used to identify individuals who are relatively likely to participate in SSI and could potentially benefit from employment support before they apply:
- People were similarly likely to first participate in SSI as an adult at each age between 18 and 35, but their experiences before participating in SSI differed by the age when they first participated.
- Several characteristics, contexts, and life events stood out as especially predictive of SSI participation, suggesting they may be especially helpful for identifying potential SSI participants.
- A model that included the full group of characteristics, contexts, and life events we considered accurately predicted who would participate in SSI as an adult 78 percent of the time.
SSI provides a safety net for millions of young adults with significant disabilities. Although most SSI participants do not work, many want to do so, potentially because working can provide a substantially higher income than SSI participation and improve quality of life in other ways (Mueser et al. 2016). At the same time, past efforts to improve the employment outcomes of people after they have applied for SSI have not been very fruitful (Nichols et al. 2021). Policy analysts have speculated that efforts to help these individuals firmly establish themselves in the labor force before they apply for SSI might succeed. However, providing vocational services to people before they apply for SSI is challenging because it requires identifying in advance those who are likely to apply for SSI later.
This research explores ways to identify young adults who are potential SSI participants—those with a greater likelihood of future participation relative to their peers but who have not yet participated. Drawing on long-term data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), this report explores which factors predict later participation in SSI. The analysis focused on predictors related to three drivers that determine participation in SSI: (1) knowledge of SSI and support in applying for it; (2) a need for financial support; and (3) their likelihood of eligibility for SSI. These predictors included personal characteristics (such as sex), contexts (such as participation in SSI as a child and opportunities for employment), and life events (such as health status or completion of education).
More like this from Mathematica
Featured Publication
Principles and Promising Practices for Hiring and Retaining Young Autistic Workers
Efficiency Meets Impact.
That's Progress Together.
To solve their most pressing challenges, organizations turn to Mathematica for deeply integrated expertise. We bring together subject matter and policy experts, data scientists, methodologists, and technologists who work across topics and sectors to help our partners design, improve, and scale evidence-based solutions.
Work With Us