It Takes a Village: Influences on Former SSI/DI Beneficiaries Who Transition to Employment

In spite of an expressed desire by SSI and SSDI recipients to get off benefits (Livermore, 2011; Olney & Lyle, 2011), less than one percent exit the rolls to go to work each year (Marini & Reid, 2001; O'Leary, Livermore & Stapleton, 2011 ; U.S. House Committee on Commerce, 1999). Of those who do transition, very few maintain long-term employment (O'Leary et ah, 2011). We know that characteristics such as youth, male gender, middle class status, higher education, better health, and previous work experience are associated with successful transition from Social Security benefits to work (Livermore, 2008; Livermore, 2011; Mamun, O'Leary, Wittenburg, & Gregory, 2011). However, research is relatively silent about characteristics of the rare individual who achieves what appears to be a Herculean task. Self-Efficacy as an Explanation A number of authors have directly named self-efficacy as the quality that makes the difference between an individual engaging in self-sustaining employment and staying on benefits (Livermore, 2011; Mamun et al., 2011). According to Hergenrather and his colleagues, self-efficacy is critical for a person to believe they can become employed (Hergenrather, Rhodes, Turner, & Barlow, 2008) and can be viewed as a self-fulfilling prophecy: If I believe I can facilitate my own success, I am much more likely to realize that success. Zenger and others noted that low self-efficacy has been attributed to longer duration of unemployment (Zenger, Berth, Brahler, & Stobel-Richter, 2013). In other words, self-efficacy is conceptualized as a trait or quality that an individual possesses. If one lacks self-efficacy, she or he lacks the toughness required to succeed in life. In contrast to this view, Luszczynska and Schwarzer (2005) described self-efficacy as the belief a person holds regarding her or his power to affect situations (also see Bandura, 1982). We maintain that self-efficacy is a state that is specific to a given activity, influenced by previous experiences, and highly changeable over time. Therefore, an individual can be said to be self-efficacious relative to a specific task at a given moment in time, like a snapshot. Self-efficacy is sensitive to changing conditions and moods whereas transitioning from benefits to work is a long-term, time consuming, rigorous process, making self-efficacy as the sole explanation of employment success unlikely. Former beneficiaries who transitioned to employment have taken a tremendous step toward independence by getting off benefits, supplanting the income and medical support they once received from the government with a salary and medical benefits derived from engagement in work. Employment is an avenue to several desirable outcomes including financial independence, a social outlet, and a sense of productivity and accomplishment. Work has rewards that positively impact mental health including reduced isolation or tedium, increased problem solving, reduced anxiety and reprieve from depression (Larson, Ryan, Wassel, Kaszynski, Ibara, Glenn, & Boyle, 2011). It is perplexing that 99 percent of SSI/DI beneficiaries do not go to work each year. Could it be said that all 99 percent of beneficiaries are not self-efficacious in relation to work? This explanation seems unlikely. There appears to be a myriad of factors that impede an individual's transition from benefits to employment that are not explained by low self-efficacy. Negative employer attitudes, the active discouragement of helping professionals and families, disability-related issues, inadequate health care, and disincentives inherent in Social Security benefits themselves (O'Day, 1999; O'Leary et al., 2011; Olney, 2007; Olney & Lyle, 2011) are concrete rather than psychological explanations of failure to get off benefits. Social Security Programs and Work Incentives Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) are cash benefit programs for people with disabilities. …