NB20-19: Economic Disruption and Social Security Spillovers: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic

DATE: June 1, 2020 to September 29, 2021

This project looks at the preliminary and likely effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on SSDI applications and OASI claims, based on high-frequency data on search behavior compiled by Google Trends. We will analyze Google Trends data on searches for disability insurance and Social Security claiming by week and geographic location, as they relate to the timing and geographic variation in COVID-19 cases, shelter-in-place directives and other area-specific shocks stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. A variety of different search terms will be tested in previous periods in order to identify search terms that are validated by historical patterns of SSDI and OASI application in aggregated administrative data.

Investigators

Profile Photo of GopiShah Goda
Gopi Shah Goda, Co-Investigator

Gopi Shah Goda is the Director of the Retirement Security Project, the inaugural Alice M. Rivlin Chair in Economic Policy, and Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution.  She  conducts research that informs how policy can best serve aging societies, including how individuals make healthcare, saving and retirement decisions as they age and the sustainability of public programs serving older populations.

Emilie Jackson.jpg
Emilie Jackson, Co-Investigator
lauren-h-nicholas.jpg
Lauren Hersch Nicholas, Co-Investigator

Lauren Hersch Nicholas is a professor in the Division of Geriatrics at the CU Anschutz School of Medicine and has a secondary appointment in the CU Denver Department of Economics. Her research focuses on the role of public policy in improving health and healthcare quality for the elderly.

Sarah Stith, Co-Investigator

Supported by the Social Security Administration grant #RDR18000003

Related

Programs

Economics of Aging

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