Volume 17, Number 2 (Spring) 1982
Warlick, Jennifer L. 1982. "Participation of the Aged in SSI." Journal of Human Resources 17(2):236-260.
The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program is the primary escape route from poverty for a significant number of the aged poor; yet approximately 50 percent of all those eligible are not enrolled. Analyses of data from the March 1975 Current Population Survey, reported here, reveal that individual participation probabilities are positively related to the level of available benefits. Other factors such as limited information, stigma, and the bureaucratic complexities of the enrollment process appear to be significant barriers to participation. Efforts to increase participation in SSI must concentrate on raising available benefits and reducing the barriers to participation.
The author is Project Associate, Department of Economics and Institute for
Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
* Support for this research was provided by the National Institute of Mental
Health, the Office of Income Security Policy, U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, and the Institute for Research on Poverty, University of
Wisconsin, Madison, through funds granted by the Department of Health and Human
Services pursuant to the provisions of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. The
author gratefully acknowledges the helpful comments of Glen Cain, David Betson,
Thomas Gustafson, Marilyn Moon, and anonymous referees.
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