Here is a fascinating study from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, showing maps illustrating the point that the higher the education level in a state, the lower the disability payment rates:
“About 6 percent of the nation’s working-age population receive disability payments from Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), but some southern and Appalachian states have much higher rates —over 10 percent. While some critics see this disparity as evidence of problems with the programs, it mostly reflects a few key demographic and economic factors:
Less-educated workforce. This is by far the most powerful factor: states with low rates of high-school completion generally have high rates of disability receipt, as you can see by comparing the two maps below. For older workers, SSI and Social Security disability insurance explicitly consider vocational and educational factors in determining eligibility, since less-educated people whose physical or mental impairment is so severe that they can’t do their previous work are less able to adapt to other employment than better-educated people are.a href=”http://www.offthechartsblog.org/the-geography-of-disability/”> See full article here: