Disability payments may spur drug abuse

Paying out certain types of government aid in a monthly lump sum appears to fuel a spate of harmful and often fatal drug binges, according to a new study in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Public Economics that links the monthly arrival of disability checks with a sharp rise in drug related hospitalizations and deaths. The findings by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz and Texas A&M University suggests that spreading out aid payments over several weeks could be a way to relieve some of the stress on hospitals and health care workers who struggle to handle the monthly surge.

The analysis found that in California, the 23 percent increase in drug-related hospital admissions that occurs in the first five days of any given month is driven largely by the arrival of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Income (DI) payments. In particular, hospital deaths among SSI recipients increase 22 percent at the beginning of the month.

This research was funded by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (SAPRP) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The paper entitled “The Effects of Government Transfers on Monthly Cycles in Drug Abuse, Hospitalization and Mortality” is in press in the peer reviewed Journal of Public Economics, though an online version is available now. The study notes that for both groups the increase in hospital admissions begins shortly after the checks arrive. “SSI aid arrives on the first of the month and hospital admissions begin rising on the second while DI aid arrives on the third of the month and the admissions surge begins on the fourth,” says lead author, Carlos Dobkin, PhD, with the University of California, Santa Cruz.

However, the investigators found that “contrary to what some analysts have suggested” monthly welfare payments, such as those administered through the federal Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF) program, do “very little” to exacerbate drug related hospitalizations and deaths. Most of the increase, they state, is driven by SSI and DI recipients.

“Our results suggest that ‘full wallets’ can exacerbate impulse control problems,” says author Steven L. Puller, PhD, with Texas A&M University.

The authors observe that their findings could prompt policy makers to “explore the possible benefits of an alternate means of disbursing cash aid” payments, such as doling them out in installments throughout the month. They also recommend identifying the “small subset of aid recipients” who account for most of the substance abuse hospitalizations and consider changing the bulk of their aid from cash payments to “in-kind” support such as food or housing assistance.

Media Contact

Carol L. Vieira EurekAlert!

All latest news from the category: Business and Finance

This area provides up-to-date and interesting developments from the world of business, economics and finance.

A wealth of information is available on topics ranging from stock markets, consumer climate, labor market policies, bond markets, foreign trade and interest rate trends to stock exchange news and economic forecasts.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors