Can Changes in Disability Insurance Work Incentives Influence Beneficiary Employment? Evidence from the Promoting Opportunity Demonstration

This Mathematica resource is part of the evaluation of Promoting Opportunity Demonstration (POD), which provided modifications to Social Security Disability Insurance program rules to determine if a benefit offset formula can promote employment, reduce people’s dependence on benefits, and decrease the program’s administrative complexity. This publication is a study of how disability beneficiary work behavior responds to a rule change that replaces a cash cliff, a threshold above which benefits reduce to zero, with a benefit offset ramp. This resource provides an analysis of mechanisms indicating that administrative burden, the limited size of the incentive, and individual and systemic barriers to employment for people with disabilities likely contributed to the limited impacts.