What’s Stopping People from Applying for Disability

When people aren’t getting a government benefit they’re eligible for, the program’s goal of improving equity is compromised.

Social Security’s disability insurance is an example. Roughly half of the 20 million adults who have a disability that limits or completely prohibits them from working are receiving the benefit.

Not all of them would meet the program’s criteria for eligibility. But research based on a survey of workers and interviews with people with disabilities reveals some of the reasons they decide to not even try to apply.

An analysis of the survey data shows that the decision is, to a large extent, a matter of having certain advantages.

The non-applicants were a fairly small group. But they were more educated and younger – and perhaps, as a result, more resilient – than the individuals who had either applied or were already receiving benefits. More than a third of the non-applicants earned at least $50,000, a larger share than the people who had applied.

One 63-year-old woman never applied because “my husband’s retired and really we’re fine,” she told an interviewer. “I would’ve liked [the benefit] but I’m okay.”  The non-applicants, the researchers said, tend to “have more resources to buffer the need to apply.”

If the lack of a pressing need was the takeaway from the quantitative analysis, the telephone interviews revealed a more textured picture of the emotional and financial obstacles that stop people from seeking disability benefits.

The arduous application process, combined with a feeling they wouldn’t qualify anyway, was a deterrent. “In my mind I thought that I don’t qualify,” said an older woman who never applied. “They’re just rubber-stamping denial,” one man said.

Someone else decided it wasn’t worth the trouble after she saw the size of the benefit, currently about $1,500 a month. “Wow, I couldn’t live off that,” she said. 

Some cited their medical condition as the reason they couldn’t apply or wouldn’t qualify. One person didn’t feel well enough to work on the application, and a woman with an undiagnosed liver problem said she lacked an official medical diagnosis, which she would have to submit to Social Security with the application. Red tape at a doctor’s office was another complaint. “It was a lot of ‘Hold on. Just a moment. We’ll get right back to you,’ ” said one woman who decided against applying.

For some, the emotional toll was too high. Submitting an application would’ve reminded one woman “that at one point in time I was very productive.” Applying “is pretty much admitting that I’m weak and I can’t do it on my own,” another woman said. “Financially, it would lift so much off of me. [But] pride is a big part of it,” she added.  

The researchers concluded that a “critical deterrent” is simply the hassle of applying with no promise of success. A 2021 research study funded by Social Security gave some credence to this, because applicants increasingly are hiring attorneys to help them navigate the complex process and improve the odds of success.

To read this study by Lila Rabinovich, Doerte Junghaenel, and Tabasa Ozawa, see “Mixed-methods Study on Work-disabled Adults Who do Not Apply for Social Security Disability Benefits.”

The research reported herein was derived in whole or in part from research activities performed pursuant to a grant from the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) funded as part of the Retirement and Disability Research Consortium.  The opinions and conclusions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not represent the opinions or policy of SSA, any agency of the federal government, or Boston College.  Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the contents of this report.  Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof.