Evaluation of Social Security Reporting in the Survey of Income and Program Participation: 2017

Oregon Convention Center 

Past research has shown that survey misreporting can potentially bias income estimates. Measurement of Social Security income faces additional challenges as respondents may be confused about the concept of gross versus net value of Social Security. Building on past work, this paper links reference year 2017 data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to administrative data from the Social Security Administration to explore the accuracy with which respondents report: 1) annual Social Security receipt; 2) number of months of income received; and 3) monthly payment amounts. This final component will explore whether respondents are reporting their gross Social Security income (as the survey item asks), or the size of the check that they actually receive (net of any deductions for Medicare premiums). Results will inform how questions could be reworded to improve measurement, and whether administrative records could be used to augment survey reports in advance of upcoming redesigns of the SIPP instrument and edits.

Administrative Records

Social Security

Medicare

Record Linkage

Data Quality 

Government Statistics Section