The 1982 New Beneficiary Survey: an introduction

This article introduces the 1982 New Beneficiary Survey, the latest survey of new beneficiaries sponsored by the Social Security Administration. This national, cross-sectional survey was fielded from October through December 1982 using a sample drawn from the Social Security Administration's Master Beneficiary Record. The sample includes retired workers, disabled workers, and aged wives and widows who received a first benefit payment from mid-1980 through mid-1981. Exactly 18,600 personal interviews were conducted with these categories of noninstitutionalized Old-Age, Survivor, and Disability Insurance beneficiaries and a comparison group who enrolled in Medicare but had not yet filed for monthly cash payments. This article describes the history of the survey's development, the sample selection procedures, the sample characteristics, the questionnaire, and the field procedures. Data from this survey of new program beneficiaries will be used to estimate the effects on future beneficiaries of changes in the Social Security program during the 1980's. The survey work was performed by the Institute for Survey Research at Temple University under contract with the Social Security Administration.