Effects of work requirements for food assistance eligibility on disability claiming

Sarah S. Stith

doi:10.2478/izajole-2022-0002

Figures & Tables

States with work requirements by year.Notes: Data are from USDA correspondence to states regarding their work requirement waivers.

Decomposition of DID results. Panel A: Decomposition of overall results. Panel B: Decomposition of results for those with self-reported disabilities or low income.Notes: Decomposition based on Goodman-Bacon (2021).

Event studies – Overall effects.Notes: Average Treatment Effects on the Treated (ATT) are graphed by year relative to work requirement implementation. ATTs are calculated by running event studies separately for each group as defined by year of work requirement implementation. Leads and lags are then averaged, weighting by the share of states in each group. Virginia and West Virginia gained and reversed work requirements during the sample period and are omitted from the event study analysis. Outcomes are measured per 10,000 population in the first two graphs and are rates in the second two graphs. Underlying regressions control for state and year fixed effects with standard errors clustered at the state level.

Event studies for SSA recipients.Notes: Average Treatment Effects on the Treated (ATT) are graphed by year relative to work requirement implementation. ATTs are calculated by running event studies separately for each group as defined by year of work requirement implementation. Leads and lags are then averaged, weighting by the share of states in each group. Virginia and West Virginia gained and reversed work requirements during the sample period and are omitted from the event study analysis. Underlying regressions control for state and year fixed effects with standard errors clustered at the state level.

SSA applications and recipients per 10,000 population by year.Notes: Data are from the SAMWD.

Probability of SNAP recipiency over time.Notes: Data are from the CPS. SNAP – Difficulty includes all individuals reporting a disability based on the six-part monthly difficulty question and the annual work limitation question. SNAP – Low income includes individuals earning <150% of the federal poverty line.

Probability of SSI recipiency over time.Notes: Data are from the CPS. SSI – Difficulty includes all individuals reporting a disability based on the six-part monthly difficulty question and the annual work limitation question. SSI – Low income includes individuals earning <150% of the federal poverty line.

Event studies.Notes: Event studies are run including the full range of leads and lags available in the data and state and year fixed effects. Policy implementation occurs at time t = 0. Virginia and West Virginia gained and reversed work requirements during the sample period and are omitted from the event study analysis. Standard errors are clustered at the state-level. 95% confidence intervals are reported.

Event studies – Difficulty or low income.Notes: Event studies are run including the full range of leads and lags available in the data and state and year fixed effects. Policy implementation occurs at time t = 0. Virginia and West Virginia gained and reversed work requirements during the sample period and are omitted from the event study analysis. Standard errors are clustered at the state-level. 95% confidence intervals are reported.

ATT by treatment group – Overall.Notes: Average Treatment Effects on the Treated (ATT) are graphed treatment group, as defined by the year the work requirement was implemented. ATTs are calculated by running event studies separately for each group as defined by year of work requirement implementation. Leads and lags are then averaged, weighting by the share of states in each group, before being aggregated to calculate the group-specific treatment effect. Virginia and West Virginia gained and reversed work requirements during the sample period and are omitted from the event study analysis. Underlying regressions control for state and year fixed effects with standard errors clustered at the state level.

Regression results – rates among those with self-reported disabilities or low income

	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)

	SNAP rate – difficulty	SNAP rate – low income	SSI rate – difficulty	SSI rate – low income
Panel A: Main Results
Any work requirement	−0.001 (0.008)	0.004 (0.004)	−0.013 (0.011)	−0.007 (0.011)
Observations	408	408	408	408
Within R-squared	0.072	0.018	0.102	0.106
Standard R-squared	0.372	0.518	0.489	0.569
Mean	0.29	0.32	0.22	0.06
% Change from mean	−0.3%	1.3%	−5.9%	−11.7%
Partial Eta-squared	0.003	0.001	0.000	0.002
90% Conf. interval	0 – 0.019	0 – 0.014	0 – 0.004	0 – 0.017

Panel B: Including State-Level Controls
Any work requirement	0.002 (0.008)	0.005 (0.004)	−0.007 (0.012)	−0.002 (0.010)
Observations	400	400	400	400
Within R-squared	0.124	0.067	0.167	0.179
Standard R-squared	0.410	0.542	0.526	0.606
% Change from mean	0.7%	1.6%	−3.2%	−3.3%
Partial Eta-squared	0.001	0.000	0.000	0.003
90% Conf. interval	0 – 0.013	0 – 0.007	0 – 0.007	0 – 0.022

Average treatment effects from Callaway and Sant’Anna (2021) analysis

	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)

	SSI applications per 10K	SSI recipients per 10K	SNAP rate	SSI rate
Any work requirement	1.339* (0.806)	0.460 −0.499	0.001 −0.004	−0.001 (0.001)
Mean	33.43	11.19	0.13	0.02
% Change from mean	4.0%	4.1%	0.8%	5.0%
	SNAP	SNAP	SSI	SSI
	Rate – Difficulty	Rate – Low Income	Rate – Difficulty	Rate – Low Income
Any work requirement	−0.037* (0.019)	−0.016 (0.018)	0.010 (0.018)	0.001 (0.006)
Mean	0.29	0.32	0.22	0.06
% Change from mean	12.8%	5.0%	4.5%	1.7%
Observations	384	384	384	384

j_izajole-2022-0002_tab_004

Data	URL
USDA correspondence	Timothy Harris, Illinois State University. fharr1@ilstu.edu
SSA State Agency Monthly Workload Data	https://www.ssa.gov/disability/data/ssa-sa-mowl.htm
Current Population Survey	www.ipums.org
University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Data	http://ukcpr.org/resources/national-welfare-data
Medicaid Expansion	https://www.kff.org/health-reform/state-indicator/state-activity-around-expanding-medicaid-under-the-affordable-care-act/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D.
Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs	www.pdaps.org
Medical and recreational cannabis access	Powell, David; Rosalie Liccardo Pacula; Mireille Jacobson (2018). Do Medical Marijuana Laws Reduce Addictions and Deaths Related to Pain Killers? Journal of Health Economics, 58:29–42
	www.pdaps.org
	www.procon.org

State and year information on work requirements

Work requirements added by year

Pre-2010	Colorado, Delaware, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia
2011	None
2012	New Hampshire, Utah, Vermont, Wyoming
2013	Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia
2014	Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Wisconsin
2015	Indiana, Louisiana, Washington
2016	Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia
2017	California, District of Columbia, Illinois, Michigan

Work requirements reversed by year

2012	West Virginia
2014	Virginia

Descriptive statistics overall and by work requirement status – control variables

	FULL SAMPLE (N = 408)		NO WR (N = 225)		WR (N = 183)		NO WR V. WR

	Mean	Std.	Mean	Std.	Mean	Std.	p-Value
TANF cases per 1,000	4.42	3.05	4.99	3.72	2.81	2.90	<0.001
Medicaid expansion	0.28	0.45	0.19	0.39	0.40	0.49	0.683
Unemployment rate	6.34	2.16	7.64	1.78	4.74	1.38	<0.001
State minimum wage	7.66	0.96	7.58	7.76	1.07	1.06	0.064
Poverty ratio	0.14	0.03	0.15	0.12	0.03	0.03	<0.001
Fraction white	0.69	0.16	0.67	0.71	0.16	0.15	0.012
Fraction black	0.11	0.11	0.13	0.09	0.09	0.09	<0.001
Fraction hispanic	0.11	0.10	0.12	0.11	0.10	0.10	0.598
Fraction prime age adults	0.40	0.02	0.40	0.39	0.02	0.02	<0.001
Fraction with high school diploma	0.68	0.03	0.68	0.69	0.03	0.03	<0.001
Sex ratio (female to male)	0.51	0.01	0.51	0.51	0.01	0.01	<0.001
Medical cannabis dispensary	0.26	0.44	0.24	0.03	0.28	0.03	0.374
Recreational cannabis dispensary	0.03	0.18	0.00	0.00	0.07	0.02	<0.001
“Must Access” PDMP	0.17	0.38	0.12	0.02	0.25	0.03	0.001

Regression results – overall effects

	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)

	SSI applications per 10K	SSI recipients per 10K	SNAP rate	SSI rate
Panel A: Main Results
Any work requirement	−0.002 (0.510)	0.333 (0.241)	−0.000 (0.001)	−0.004 (0.003)
Observations	408	408	408	408
Within R-squared	0.625	0.426	0.068	0.234
Standard R-squared	0.967	0.915	0.852	0.743
Mean	33.43	11.19	0.13	0.02
% Change from mean	0.0%	3.0%	0.0%	−20.0%
Partial Eta-squared	0.000	0.007	0.008	0.000
90% Conf. interval	0 – 0.019	0 – 0.028	0 – 0.030	0 – 0.006

Panel B: Including State-Level Controls
Any work requirement	−0.201 (0.500)	0.173 (0.185)	0.000 (0.001)	−0.002 (0.003)
Observations	400	400	400	400
Within R-squared	0.700	0.552	0.110	0.329
Standard R-squared	0.974	0.938	0.858	0.774
% Change from mean	−0.6%	1.5%	0.0%	−10.0%
Partial Eta-squared	0.001	0.004	0.003	0.000
90% Conf. interval	0 – 0.013	0 – 0.022	0 – 0.020	0 – 0.007

Comparing outcomes for state-years with and without work requirements

	FULL SAMPLE		NO WR		WR		NO WR V. WR

	Mean	Std.	Mean	Std.	Mean	Std.	p-Value
SSI applications per 10,000	33.43	13.97	38.10	0.98	27.69	0.78	<0.001
SSI recipients per 10,000	11.19	3.84	12.20	0.29	9.95	0.20	<0.001
SNAP recipiency	0.13	0.04	0.14	0.00	0.12	0.00	<0.001
SNAP recipiency – difficulty	0.29	0.09	0.31	0.01	0.27	0.01	<0.001
SNAP recipiency – low Income	0.32	0.08	0.34	0.01	0.29	0.01	<0.001
SSI recipiency	0.02	0.01	0.02	0.00	0.02	0.00	0.002
SSI recipiency – difficulty	0.22	0.07	0.23	0.00	0.20	0.00	<0.001
SSI recipiency – low income	0.06	0.03	0.07	0.00	0.06	0.00	0.276

Averaged coefficients by period from Callaway and Sant’Anna (2021) event studies

Period	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)	(8)

	SSI applications per 10K	SSI recipients per 10K	SNAP rate	SSI rate	SNAP rate - difficulty	SNAP rate - low income	SSI rate - difficulty	SSI rate - low income
−7	−0.496 (1.176)	−0.451 (0.743)	0.014*** (0.004)	−0.002 (0.002)	−0.020 (0.193)	0.0234* (0.012)	0.003 (0.035)	0.008 (0.006)
−6	0.883 (0.711)	0.174 (0.223)	−0.006 (0.005)	–0.001 (0.001)	0.020 (0.023)	−0.013 (0.016)	−0.044 (0.032)	−0.016 (0.008)
−5	−0.467 (0.561)	−0.005 (0.252)	0.008 (0.005)	0.001 (0.001)	−0.006 (0.036)	0.004 (0.020)	0.024 (0.026)	0.014 (0.007)
−4	−0.414 (0.482)	−0.032 (0.217)	0.007 (0.004)	0.000 (0.001)	−0.033 (0.025)	−0.005 (0.016)	0.020 (0.018)	−0.001 (0.008)
−3	−0.233 (0.486)	−0.242 (0.199)	−0.005 (0.006)	0.000 (0.002)	0.006 (0.025)	0.002 (0.016)	−0.006 (0.022)	−0.001 (0.007)
−2	−0.004 (0.442)	0.353** (0.179)	0.000 (0.004)	0.000 (0.001)	−0.006 (0.026)	−0.004 (0.014)	−0.016 (0.022)	−0.009 (0.008)
−1	1.068 (1.112)	0.062 (0.334)	−0.002 (0.005)	−0.001 (0.001)	−0.001 (0.023)	−0.025 (0.019)	0.013 (0.020)	0.002 (0.007)
0	−0.027 (0.272)	0.161 (0.150)	0.001 (0.004)	0.000 (0.001)	−0.002 (0.017)	0.011 (0.018)	0.018 (0.021)	0.009 (0.007)
1	0.459 (0.579)	0.102 (0.280)	−0.001 (0.005)	−0.001 (0.001)	−0.045* (0.024)	−0.039* (0.022)	0.002 (0.017)	0.005 (0.007)
2	1.693* (0.930)	0.375 (0.446)	0.003 (0.005)	−0.002* (0.001)	−0.070*** (0.024)	−0.020 (0.020)	−0.002 (0.020)	−0.006 (0.006)
3	2.451* (1.325)	0.791 (0.662)	0.007 (0.006)	−0.002 (0.002)	−0.050 (0.031)	−0.023 (0.028)	−0.018 (0.030)	−0.004 (0.012)
4	3.560* (1.861)	0.851 (0.995)	0.000 (0.008)	0.000 (0.001)	−0.042 (0.044)	−0.003 (0.037)	0.030 (0.028)	−0.003 (0.008)
5	1.444 (1.970)	0.383 (0.940)	−0.005 (0.011)	−0.001 (0.001)	−0.006 (0.043)	−0.030 (0.043)	0.049* (0.028)	0.009 (0.013)
6	4.854 (3.471)	2.248 (2.673)	0.004 (0.013)	−0.001 (0.002)	−0.108* (0.056)	−0.070 (0.043)	0.014 (0.048)	−0.022 (0.014)

Weighted treatment – overall samples

Variables	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)

	SSI applications per 10K	SSI recipients per 10K	SNAP recipiency	SSI recipiency
Any work requirement	−0.002 (0.545)	0.333 (0.258)	−0.005 (0.003)	−0.000 (0.001)
Weighted by counties affected	−1.125 (1.304)	−0.271 (0.497)	−0.013* (0.007)	−0.001 (0.001)
Weighted by ABAWD population	−1.985 (3.245)	0.311 (1.242)	−0.037** (0.018)	−0.002 (0.004)
Weighted by non-exempted ABAWD population	−2.300 (3.090)	0.444 (1.237)	−0.041** (0.019)	−0.003 (0.004)

Weighted treatment – subgroups

Variables	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)

	SNAP rate - difficulty	SNAP rate - low income	SSI rate - difficulty	SSI rate - low income
Any work requirement	−0.013 (0.012)	−0.007 (0.011)	−0.001 (0.009)	0.004 (0.005)
Weighted by counties affected	−0.030 (0.025)	−0.015 (0.027)	−0.010 (0.020)	0.006 (0.011)
Weighted by ABAWD population	−0.081 (0.069)	−0.054 (0.067)	−0.019 (0.049)	0.013 (0.028)
Weighted by non-exempted ABAWD population	−0.091 (0.075)	−0.067 (0.069)	−0.029 (0.052)	0.001 (0.029)

Effects of work requirements for food assistance eligibility on disability claiming

Figures & Tables

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure A1

Figure A2

Figure A3

Figure A4

Figure A5

Figure A6

Figure A7

Regression results – rates among those with self-reported disabilities or low income

Average treatment effects from Callaway and Sant’Anna (2021) analysis

j_izajole-2022-0002_tab_004

State and year information on work requirements

Descriptive statistics overall and by work requirement status – control variables

Regression results – overall effects

Comparing outcomes for state-years with and without work requirements

Averaged coefficients by period from Callaway and Sant’Anna (2021) event studies

Weighted treatment – overall samples

Weighted treatment – subgroups

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