全球智库信息集成服务系统

More than one in three Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) beneficiaries are living in- or near-poverty and how these low-income beneficiaries make ends meet is uncertain. One possible explanation is that DI beneficiaries’ primarily base their consumption on their income and therefore their consumption levels are low. A second possible explanation is that DI beneficiaries have access to resources to support consumption at levels beyond what is suggested by their poverty level income, for example in-kind income or informal income.This study assessed how low-income DI beneficiaries make ends meet. We used qualitative methods, interviewing 35 low-income DI beneficiaries living in the Worcester Massachusetts area to determine how they managed their income, expenses, savings and debt to meet their needs. The interviews with study participants included questions on expenses, income, savings, debt, strategies to make ends meet, and well-being. We use participant’s reported expenditures and in-kind income to obtain an estimate of total consumption. The study participants were not randomly selected and the findings cannot be generalized to the national population of low-income DI beneficiaries.