Partial health-related benefits and other work incentives for sickness and disability benefits recipients: A comparison of reforms in Europe and the United States

Abstract: We investigate strategies pursued by OECD countries to increase the labor force attachment of sickness or disability benefit recipients. We focus on changes in policies that regulate the combination of benefit receipt with paid work activity. Our research builds upon and expands work that we are currently carrying out for the Disability Research Center. In a first step, we will survey and discuss OECD countries' approaches to partial disability benefits and similar policies to increase sick or disabled persons' labor market attachment. In a second step, we will estimate the economic and subjective wellbeing of disabled persons and their participation in the labor market for the period 2003 to 2013 using micro-data for the United States and a set of European countries.