Material Hardship, Poverty, and Disability Among Working-Age Adults

The authors used data from the 1996 panel of SIPP to examine the extent to which working-age people with disabilities experience several types of material hardships. The findings indicate that disability is an important determinant of material hardship, even after controlling for income and other sociodemographic characteristics. In addition, a large majority of the low-income respondents who reported a material hardship also reported being limited for some period of time in the amount or kind of work they can perform. The findings provide support for policies that account for disability-related expenditures and needs when determining eligibility for means-tested assistance programs. They also suggest that the official poverty measure overstates the relative economic well-being of people with disabilities.