The New Safety Net? Supplemental Security Income after Welfare Reform

The Department of Economics from Williams College released a paper in their working papers series discussing the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, a federally-funded income support program for disabled individuals. The paper uses State panel data to examine the relationships between welfare reform and SSI disabled caseloads for both adults and children. The paper also examines whether the relationship between SSI participation and other factors has been altered after welfare reform. Results are provided that suggest that welfare reform significantly increases SSI participation.