Survey of Low Income Aged and Disabled, United States, 1973-1974

This data collection contains the results of the Survey of
Low Income Aged and Disabled (SLIAD), conducted in 1973-1974 in order
to collect demographic and socioeconomic data necessary for assessing
the effect of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program on
potential recipients. After January 1, 1974, SSI replaced the
state-administered welfare programs of Old Age Assistance (OAA), Aid
to the Blind (AB), and Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled
(APTD) and was meant to improve the economic well-being of the adult
poor. A national sample of about 18,000 low-income aged, blind, and/or
disabled adults was interviewed in 1973, and reinterviewed in 1974,
after SSI was implemented. The 1974 re-interviews were conducted only
with persons successfully interviewed in 1973. No new cases were added
to replace first-year losses, nor were cases dropped because they no
longer met SSI eligibility. Part 1 contains data gathered from a
sample made up of aged and disabled persons who received OAA, AB,
and/or APTD payments in 1973. Part 2 contains data gathered from a
sample of low-income aged and disabled people in the general
population (generated from Current Population Survey samples). The
United States Census Bureau conducted the interviews and collected the
data. The 1973 survey placed great emphasis on financial matters. Each
respondent was asked to report income received in the preceding month
and year by each of three general classes of persons in the
household. The questionnaire listed more than 15 income sources
including payments and awards from almost every transfer program
possible, earnings from jobs and businesses, gifts, and dividends. The
financial section of the questionnaire also included items aimed at
establishing the value of owned property, savings and investments, the
amount of indebtedness, and the amount spent for food, shelter, and
other recurring household expenditures. For the most part, the
remainder of the questionnaire concerned (1) household composition,
(2) personal history, (3) health, health care, and the capacity for
self-maintenance, (4) standard of living, as represented by housing,
diet, travel, and recreation, (5) factors that might affect the
relation between income and standard of living (e.g., personal
preference, physical capacity, and access), and (6) attitudinal
response to these conditions, circumstances, and types of status. The
1974 survey was similar in that it asked almost all of the earlier
income and asset questions, but added a section on SSI payments. It
also collected more detail on household living expenses. It did not
repeat the biographical section or the inventory of health conditions
from the 1973 survey, but did contain new questions on a spouses'
funeral expenses as well as the respondent's experience with SSI.