Macroeconomics Series No.4 - Man Hin(Iris) Chio (PhD Candidate, RSE, ANU)

Disability, Social Insurance and Employment in Australia: Trends, Correlates and Estimates

Abstract:  

We study the social insurance role of disability support pension (DSP) in Australia, using three administrative and household survey datasets (HILDA, SIH and PLIDA). Our findings are as follows: (i) Health, labour force and marital statuses are the main demographic characteristics distinguishing DSP recipients from non-DSP recipients; (ii) Public transfers constitute more than 75% of DSP recipients' income; and (iii) The number of single DSP beneficiaries who remain unemployed or out of the labour force is increasing over time, whereas married DSP beneficiaries exhibit a different trend.