Below is a chart showing average growth rates in disability benefits by decade across several countries from Disability Benefit Growth and Disability Reform inthe US: Lessons from Other OECD Nations by Richard V Burkhauser, Mary C Daly, Duncan McVicarand Roger Wilkins in the IZA Journal of Labor Policy. The authors say that the United States must "reform" its disability benefits policies but the chart seems to me to dramatically undermine their argument.
10 comments:
There's you problem...one "chart" hardly tells the story.
Perhaps you didn't notice the downward turn in the other countries payment of benefits? Perhaps increased benefits are not sustainable??
Nice example of cherry-picking. Note the authors' comment: Thus, even when we adjust for
differences in population characteristics across countries, the U.S. remains an outlier in
experiencing ongoing growth in disability recipiency rates. Since to date no major policy
reforms have been implemented to address this growth, this gap between the U.S. and these other countries is likely to grow larger in coming years.
@8:11, upon what statistics are you basing your projection?
The chart is not the growth rate in disability benefits - it is the percentage of the population receiving disability benefits. As for the quote @8:11 AM, the faster growth rate in the US is decreasing the gap, not increasing it (they are higher but the US is growing faster). At the level of increase shown, it will take many years for the US to reach the level of Sweden (assuming that the US rate continues to rise).
Actually, if Sweden and the United States continue in the diretion they are going, they will reach the level of Sweden around 2012 or 13.. Oops, the graph ended before that, but that is waht the projection would show.. Just saying..
The graph seems to indicate that countries with more than 6 percent of their population receiving disability can reduce that percentage. Not much guidance there for the U.S., which is only at 4 percent.
unless we can compare the requirements for "disability" in each of these countries, this graph is meaningless.
Ahhhhh, and there in lies the rub... Something for the left winger liberals to get all wound up about and tis much ado about nada.....
A graph in CBPP's updated chart book (see http://www.offthechartsblog.org/cbpp-updates-chart-book-and-paper-on-disability-insurance/) confirms that, when we measure total spending on public disability benefits (another way of comparing countries' generosity), the U.S. is pretty strict.
Burkhauser and Daly slant their analysis by focusing on the growth of beneficiaries rather then the level. The U.S. has experienced moderately rapid growth in the DI rolls in recent decades, mostly for demographic reasons, but its caseload remains well below the levels that led other countries to tighten up.
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