New issue brief: "Disability Insurance: Does Extending Unemployment Benefits Help?"

The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College has released a new Issue in Brief:

"Disability Insurance: Does Extending Unemployment Benefits Help?"

by Matthew S. Rutledge

The brief's key findings are:

• Jobless individuals tend to delay applying for disability insurance (SSDI) until their extended unemployment insurance (UI) runs out.
  
• Those who do apply for SSDI while still on unemployment are more likely to be approved, suggesting they are less healthy than those who delay.
  
• UI extensions do not appear to reduce SSDI costs, because any given application is more likely to be approved due to worsening health or poor job prospects.
  

The brief is available here.