America the Disabled
May 17, 2011
America is becoming a disabled society, as more and more people declare themselves unable to work. Workers' compensation payments for injured employees have soared; Social Security disability payments have risen substantially; the number of disabled students in special education programs is surging; and Americans are taking more sick leave than ever. In 1970, American workers injured on the job received $3 billion in worker compensation payments. Less than a generation later, in 1993, the payments had grown to almost $43 billion, a 14-fold increase. To put it another way, for every $1,000 that 1970 workers earned, they received $5.32 in workers comp payments; by 1993, the figure was $13.86. Remarkably, this increase occurred at a time when, occupational health and safety data indicate, work-related injuries were declining. Social Security disability payments also grew 14-fold in 1970-93, partly because benefits became more generous and partly because the number of Americans receiving them increased by more than two and a half times. In 1970, 1.4 people per 100 workers received Social Security disability benefits; in 1993, 4.4 people per 100 workers. And if the statistics are to be believed, our working-age population is getting ever more sickly. Between 1980 and 1992 sick-leave payments more than doubled, growing faster than earnings. Government workers seem especially frail, collecting more sick pay in 1992 than the entire private sector, which had five times as many employees. Could it be that an aging population is more prone to sickness and disability? No, children aren't spared from the disability epidemic. In the 1976-77 school year, 8% of all public school students were classified as having a disability, compared with nearly 12% in 1992-93 (see chart). How could this be, when the number of students with speech or language impairments, hearing disabilities, and orthopedic or visual handicaps actually fell, both in absolute numbers and as a percentage of the school population? Some students with these conditions are now classified as ``multiple disabled,'' but the main reason is that the nebulous category of ``learning disabled'' exploded, roughly tripling in 16 years. What accounts for the explosion in disability? Increasingly, middle-class Americans are taking advantage of well-intentioned public policies that attempt to provide security and assistance for the less fortunate. Their awareness of the financial and other opportunities that ``disability'' or ``sickness'' provides is enhanced by lawyers who advertise that the path to financial success is through a successful workers compensation claim. The benefits of being disabled have risen relative to the costs, so it shouldn't surprise us that we have more disabled people. Suffering from a bit of back pain? A generation ago, you'd have lived with it and gone to work or faced a loss in pay. Now you can stay home and either take sick leave or apply for workers compensation. Similarly, children classified as disabled are showered with attention in school. Federal law entitles them to individualized curricular attention, smaller classes and other expensive services. No wonder special education is driving up the cost of public schooling. The tragedy is that as more healthy middle-class Americans claim ``disabilities'' in order to live off the welfare state, those with real disabilities may suffer. Most taxpayers are willing to help those who really need it. But when people unjustly take advantage of the system, compassion may give way to resentment, making ours a harsher society. Mr. Orton is an adjunct fellow of the Center for the Study of American Business and a professor of economics at Ohio University.
