Abstract
Despite their widespread use in the literature, the Current Population Survey (CPS) and similar surveys have come under attack of late. We put the criticisms in perspective by systematically examining what the CPS data can and cannot be used for in disability research compared to the National Health Interview Survey. On the basis of our findings, we argue (1) that the CPS can be used to monitor trends in outcomes of those with disabilities and (2) that the dramatic decline in the employment of people with disabilities we describe in the CPS during the 1990s is not an artifact of the data.
Employment Rate, National Health Interview Survey, Work Limitation, Social Security Disability Insurance, Active Life Expectancy
The text of this article is only available as a PDF.
References
Acemoglu, D., & Angrist, J. (
2001
). Consequences of Employment Protection? The Case of the Americans With Disabilities Act
. Journal of Political Economy
, 109
, 915
–57
. 10.1086/322836Autor, D., & Duggan, M. (
2001
). The Rise in Disability and the Decline in Unemployment
. Cambridge, MA
: Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
.Baker, M., Stabile, M., & Deri, C. (
2001
). What Do Self-Reported, Objective Measures of Health Measure?
. Cambridge, MA
: National Bureau of Economic Research
.Bound, J., & Burkhauser, R.V. (
1999
). Economic Analysis of Transfer Programs Targeted on People With Disabilities
. In O. Ashenfelter, & D. Card (Eds.), Handbook of Labor Economics
(pp. 3417
–528
). New York
: Elsevier Science
.Bound, J., & Waidmann, T. (
1992
). Disability Transfers, Self-Reported Health, and the Labor Force Attachment of Older Men: Evidence From the Historical Record
. Quarterly Journal of Economics
, 107
, 1393
–419
. 10.2307/2118393Bound, J. (
2002
). Accounting for Recent Declines in Employment Rates Among the Working-Aged Men and Women With Disabilities
. Journal of Human Resources
, 37
, 231
–50
. 10.2307/3069646Burkhauser, R.V., & Daly, M.C. (
1996
). Employment and Economic Well-being Following the Onset of a Disability: The Role for Public Policy
. In J. Mashaw, V. Reno, R.V. Burkhauser, & M. Berkowitz (Eds.), Disability, Work, and Cash Benefits
(pp. 59
–102
). Kalamazoo, MI
: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
.Burkhauser, R.V., Daly, M.C., & Houtenville, A. (
2001
). How Working-Age People With Disabilities Fared Over the 1990s Business Cycle
. In P. Budetti, R.V. Burkhauser, J. Gregory, & A. Hunt (Eds.), Ensuring Health and Income Security for an Aging Workforce
(pp. 291
–346
). Kalamazoo, MI
: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
.Burkhauser, R.V., Daly, M.C., Houtenville, A., & Nargis, N. (
2001
). The Employment of Working-Age People With Disabilities in the 1980s and 1990s: What Current Data Can and Cannot Tell Us
. San Francisco
: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
.Crimmins, E.M., Hayward, M.D., & Saito, Y. (
1994
). Changing Mortality and Morbidity Rates and the Health Status and Life Expectancy of the Older Population
. Demography
, 31
, 159
–75
. 10.2307/2061913Crimmins, E.M., Saito, Y., & Ingegneri, D. (
1989
). Changes in Life Expectancy and Disability-Free Life Expectancy in the United States
. Population and Development Review
, 15
, 235
–67
. 10.2307/1973704Crimmins, E.M. (
1997
). Trends in Disability-Free Life Expectancy in the United States, 1970-1990
. Population and Development Review
, 23
, 555
–72
. 10.2307/2137572DeLeire, T. (
2000
). The Wage and Employment Effects of the Americans With Disabilities Act
. Journal of Human Resources
, 35
, 693
–715
. 10.2307/146368Hale, T. (
2001
). The Lack of a Disability Measure in Today’s Current Population Survey
. Monthly Labor Review
, June
, 38
–40
.Hardy, M., & Pavalko, E. (
1986
). The Internal Structure of Self-Reported Health Measures Among Older Male Workers and Retirees
. Journal of Health and Social Behavior
, 27
, 346
–57
. 10.2307/2136949Hayward, M., & Grady, W. (
1990
). Work and Retirement Among a Cohort of Older Men in the United States, 1966–1983
. Demography
, 27
, 337
–56
. 10.2307/2061372Hayward, M., & Heron, M. (
1999
). Racial Inequality in Active Life Among Adult Americans
. Demography
, 36
, 77
–91
. 10.2307/2648135Houtenville, A.J. (
2001
). Employment and Economic Consequences of Visual Impairments
. In P. Lennie, & S.B. Van Hemel (Eds.), Visual Impairments: Determining Eligibility for Social Security Benefits
(pp. a1
–a15
). Washington, DC
: National Academy Press
.Jette, A., & Badley, E. (
2000
). Conceptual Issues in the Measurement of Work Disability
. In N. Mathiowetz, & G. Wunderlich (Eds.), Survey Measurement of Work Disability
(pp. 4
–27
). Washington, DC
: National Academy Press
.Kaye, S. (
2002
). Employment and the Changing Disability Environment
. San Francisco
: Disability Statistics Center, University of California
.Kirchner, C. (
1996
). Looking Under the Street Lamp: Inappropriate Uses of Measures Just Because They are There
. Journal of Disability Policy Studies
, 7
, 77
–90
. 10.1177/104420739600700104Kruse, D. (
1998
). Persons With Disabilities: Demographic, Income, and Health Care Characteristics, 1993
. Monthly Labor Review
, 121
(9
), 13
–22
.Kruse, D., & Schur, L. (
2000
). Employment of People With Disabilities Following the ADA
. New Brunswick, NJ
: School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University
.Lakdawalla, D., Bhattacharya, J., & Goldman, D. (
2001
). Are the Young Becoming More Disabled?
. Cambridge, MA
: National Bureau of Economic Research
.McNeil, J. 1993. “Americans with Disabilities: 1991–1992.” Current Population Reports, Household Economic Studies, Series P70-33.
McNeil, J. 2000. “Employment, Earnings, and Disability.” Paper presented at the 75th Annual Conference of the Western Economic Association. Available on-line at http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/disable/emperndis.pdf.
Moore, K. (
2001
). Raising the Social Security Retirement Ages: Weighing the Costs and Benefits
. Arizona State Law Journal
, 33
, 544
–612
.Nagi, S. (
1965
). Some Conceptual Issues in Disability and Rehabilitation
. In M.B. Sussman (Ed.), Sociology and Rehabilitation
(pp. 100
–13
). Washington, DC
: American Sociological Association
.Nagi, S. (
1969
). Disability and Rehabilitation: Legal, Clinical and Self-Concepts of Measurement
. Columbus
: Ohio State University Press
.Nagi, S. (
1991
). Disability Concepts Revisited: Implications to Prevention
. In A.M. Pope, & A.R. Tarlove (Eds.), Disability in America: Toward a National Agenda for Prevention
(pp. 309
–27
). Washington, DC
: National Academy Press
.Parsons, D.O. (
1980
). The Decline of Male Labor Force Participation
. Journal of Political Economy
, 88
, 117
–34
. 10.1086/260850Stern, S. (
1989
). Measuring the Effect of Disability on Labor Force Participation
. Journal of Human Resources
, 24
, 361
–95
. 10.2307/145819Verbrugge, L.M. (
1984
). Long Life but Worsening Health? Trends in Health nd Mortality of Middle-Aged and Older Persons
. Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly/Health and Society
, 62
, 475
–519
. 10.2307/3349861Verbrugge, L.M. (
1991
). Physical and Social Disability in Adults
. In H. Hibbard, P.A. Nutting, & M.L. Grady (Eds.), Primary Care Research: Theory and Methods
. Rockville, MD
: Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
.© Population Association of America 2002
2002
Issue Section:
Articles