Cash benefits for short-term sickness, 1975.

Sickness and non-work-related accidents in 1973 left the Nation’s workers with a short-term potential earnings loss of $20.9 billion. Cash benefits, largely through accident and sickness insurance and sick leave, replaced $7.2 billion or almost 35 percent of the loss. In 1973, even more than in previous years, inflation helped to push the income-loss and benefit levels above the levels a year earlier. The growth of the labor force in 1973 also contributed to the rise in income loss and benefits. A decline in the number of workdays lost from sickness per worker reduced the rate of increase, however. Overall, benefits rose 9 percent and income loss 8 percent from 1972 to 1973. The term “income loss” refers here to worktime loss resulting from the first 6 months of illness of long duration, as well as from nonoccupational disabilities lasting less than 6 months. It encompasses, in addition, not only income actually lost but income that would have been lost if it were not for sick leave or wagecontinuation programs. Formal sick leave is counted as an offset to this potential loss and added to benefit totals. The rate of benefit protection (benefits as a percent of income loss) was a little higher in 1973. The main factor in the slightly upward change in the ratio (from 34.2 percent in 1972 to 34.6 percent in 1973) was the addition to this series in 1973 of $111 million in benefits for the sixth month of disability paid under the Federal oldage, survivors, disability, and health insurance (OASDHI) program, as a result of a 1972 amendment to the waiting-period provision in the Social Security Act. / \ + P’Tepared by Daniel N. Price, Division of Retirement and Shrvivors Studies, Ofece of Research and Statistics. This presentation is briefer than that previously published annually on cash-sickness beneflts in January issues of the Bulletin See, for example, Daniel Price, “Cash Benefits for Short-Term Sickness, 194&72,” January 1974, for a detailed discussion of the concepts and methodology used.