About Us

Office of Retirement and Disability Policy

The Office of Retirement and Disability Policy (ORDP) is the principal advisor to the Commissioner of Social Security on major policy issues and is responsible for all major activities in the areas of strategic and program policy planning, policy research and evaluation, statistical programs, and overall policy development, analysis, and implementation.

ORDP comprises nine main components that are outlined in our organization chart.

Research & Policy Analysis

The research and policy analysis information on this Web site is the result of a collaborative effort among three offices within ORDP—the Office of Program Development & Research, the Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics, and the Office of Retirement Policy. All three offices work together to conduct research and policy analysis and disseminate the results of their research in a variety of publications that are available on this Web site.

Statistics

The statistical information on this Web site is provided by the Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics, the agency's source for statistics on the OASDI and SSI programs and the earnings of the working and beneficiary populations.

Other Programs

The Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics also funds an extramural research program—the Research Retirement Consortium.

Data Service for Epidemiological Research

SSA also provides a data service to health researchers involved in epidemiological research. Specifically, for studies that contribute to a national health interest, SSA will inform researchers about whether a subject of the study is alive or deceased. There is a fee for this service. For more information, see "Service to Epidemiological Researchers to Provide Vital Status Data on Subjects of Health Research."