A recent Urban Institute report on the economic status and demographics of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) recipients indicates that a large portion have limited education, low income and few assets.
According to the report, about 44 percent of SSDI recipients aged 31-49 are considered “poor” or “near poor” based on income that is between 100 and 125 percent of the poverty line. In addition, about 18 percent of recipients age 60-64 are “poor” or “near poor.”
There seems to be a direct correlation between a lack of education and those who are collecting SSDI. The study indicated that high school dropouts are four times as likely as college graduates to receive SSDI. Adults with relatively little schooling tend to have more health problems and less access to affordable health care than college graduates.
Despite what you may hear elsewhere, age plays a large factor in who is collecting SSDI payments. The older you are the higher probability you are collecting SSDI.
Those who are age 50 are twice as likely to be disabled as someone who is 40 and those who are age 60 are twice as likely to be disabled as someone age 50.
Men are also more likely candidates to receive SSDI than women. According to the study, between the ages of 60-64, 13.7 percent of men collect SSDI compared to just 10.9 percent of women. Some of this has to do with more men being in the work force for this age group.
Benefit Amounts and Use
Monthly SSDI benefits average $1,399 for men and $1,078 for women. About half of women received monthly benefits of $900 per month or less.
It is clear that SSDI is crucial for most of the recipients as nearly half rely on it for at least half of all family income and about 20 percent rely on it for all family income.
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JK
