“When the economy gets better, employers are more willing to look to other labor pools and be more accommodating,” said Eric Kingson, a professor of social work at Syracuse University. “Some people with disabilities also have a sense there may be something out there that fits with their needs.”

Of course, other factors have contributed to the decline in disability applications. As aging baby boomers receive Social Security retirement benefits and Medicare, fewer require disability benefits. People in the disability program receive an average of $1,200 a month and get health insurance through Medicare.

What’s more, with the expansion of Medicaid in 33 states and the District of Columbia as well as improved access to insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, many experts argue, fewer people see the disability program as a way to obtain health care.

Finally, the Social Security Administration has been making it harder to qualify for benefits, according to scholars and advocates.

In some cases, just applying has become more arduous, said T.J. Sutcliffe, senior director of income and housing policy at the Arc, an advocacy group for people with disabilities. Budget cuts have taken a toll, she said, with 67 Social Security field offices closing since 2010.

A 2017 study by Manasi Deshpande of the University of Chicago and Yue Li of the State University of New York at Albany found that “field office closings lead to large and persistent reductions in the number of disability recipients.” Applicants with “moderately severe conditions, low education levels and low pre-application earnings” were hardest hit.

Applicants also face an increasingly uphill battle appealing rejections, with the administrative law judges who handle these cases taking a much more skeptical stance.