Health, Employment, and Disability: Implications from the Undocumented Population / George J. Borjas, David J.G. Slusky.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Borjas, George J.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Slusky, David J.G.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w24504.

NBER working paper series no. w24504

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Health, Employment, and Disability

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2018.

Summary:

The number of disability beneficiaries doubled in the past two decades. It is difficult to determine how much is explained by changes in health, as we lack a counterfactual. We use undocumented immigrants to form the counterfactual, as they cannot claim benefits. Using NHIS data, we show that the relationship between health and disability is stronger for the legal population than for the undocumented. Much of the difference in disability rates between the populations is due to different labor supply responses to underlying health impairments and demographic differences, rather than to differences in the impairments or demographic variables themselves.

Notes:

Print version record

April 2018.