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Past research has shown that survey misreporting can potentially bias income estimates, including Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) payments. Building on past work, this paper links data from the 2018 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to administrative records from the Social Security Administration (SSA) to explore the accuracy with which respondents report: 1) annual Social Security receipt, 2) monthly Social Security receipt, and 3) monthly payment amounts. This final component focuses on whether respondents report their gross Social Security income as the survey item asks, or the net amount of the check that they actually receive, accounting for deductions. Results indicate that overall reporting quality is high, with over 95 percent of adults accurately reporting annual receipt and high levels of accuracy in reporting monthly receipt. However, there is evidence of program confusion between Social Security and programs such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Additionally, many respondents appear to be reporting net amounts, rather than gross amounts. Finally, there is suggestive evidence of differential underreporting of both receipt and payment amounts among disadvantaged groups, suggesting that the anti-poverty effects of Social Security have been underestimated. The results of this analysis will be used to inform how SIPP survey questions could be reworded to improve measurement of Social Security receipt and payment amounts.
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