The topic of Social Security disability benefits can be a controversial one depending on who you are talking to. For those who know the process of trying to get Social Security disability benefits, there is no doubt that nothing comes easy. For those who know little about the process there is a lot of inaccurate information spread and many believe that those who are going for or who receive Social Security disability benefits are just lazy and don’t want to work. Generalizing about a large group of people is always dangerous, but understanding the Social Security disability process provides knowledge that the vast majority of Social Security disability recipients would rather work than collect benefits, but are unable to because of impairments.
Some people may scoff at this, but it is true mainly because no one who receives Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits will receive anywhere near the amount of money they did while working. The other fallacy is that people who get SSDI have never worked, but this is also untrue. There is no way to even be eligible for SSDI benefits if a person has not worked long enough or more recent enough.
A majority of people who receive SSDI benefits struggle financially, as indicated by a recent study from the Urban Institute. According to this study, 44 percent of people ages 31-49 who receive SSDI benefits are poor and another 13 percent are near poor, which is defined as income between 100 and 125 percent of the poverty line. Although 57 percent of these people are either poor or near poor, just 24 percent of non SSDI beneficiaries in the same age group are poor or near poor. The idea that SSDI beneficiaries would rather live in poverty than work is completely preposterous and people need to be aware that SSDI beneficiaries would gladly trade-in their impairments and Social Security checks for the ability to be able to work.
