Disability, Income Research Hits a (Media) Vein

Sometimes an MIT faculty member's research hits a vein of public interest and corresponding media attention fast. In recent weeks, MIT economist David Autor, whose research includes human capital and wage inequality as well as labor markets and technological change, has been making headlines:

Disability Insurance: America's $124 Billion Secret Welfare Program

The Atlantic reported March 25 that the Social Security disability program rolls have more than doubled in the past 20 years, even though people are healthier. The article points to Autor's research to assert that people over 50, the typical population with disabilities, are healthier now than in the 1980s. So what is happening? Autor's work shows that disability applications relate more to unemployment than health: applications tend to rise and fall with the unemployment rate and most applications come from recently unemployed workers.

Study of Men’s Falling Income Cites Single Parents

Autor's research is featured in the March 20 New York Times article on the decline of two-parent households, which he links to the growing trend of men earning less. He found that boys raised in single-parent households, which are predominately headed by women, “appear to fare particularly poorly." For more, download Autor's report, "Wayward Sons: The Emerging Gender Gap in Labor Markets and Education" on the Third Way website.

Other articles:

• When (and Where) Work Disappears (the impact of overseas manufacturing competition)
• Robots Are Stealing American Jobs (occupations vulnerable to automation)
• The Polarization of Job Opportunities in the U.S. Labor Market (the disappearance of middle-income jobs.)