The Economic Well-Being of the Disabled: 1962-84

This paper focuses on the disabled working age population and tracks the changes in their labor market performance, their receipt of public income transfers, and their economic well-being over the 1962-1984 period. The changes over time in these indicators are compared with those of the nondisabled population. The paper concludes that from the 1960s until the mid-1970s, the disabled improved their performance in the labor market; their real earnings rose both absolutely and relatively. The economic well-being of disabled males also increased rapidly during this period. However, in the last half of the 1970s the earnings of the disabled population fell rapidly, although the rapid growth of transfer income cushioned this fall until the late 1970s. Then, and especially after 1980, the controversial retrenchment in disability benefit programs struck, and the well-being of the disabled fell further.