SSDI has provided basic but essential protection. Today, it protects more than 9 out of 10 American workers and their families.
It is a tragic situation, but disability happens more often than most people imagine. A majority of wage earners (64%) believe they have a 2% or less chance of being disabled for three months or more during their working careers, according to a 2010 study by the Council for Disability Awareness. The reality, however, is quite different and quite sobering. The Social Security Administration estimates that of today’s 20 year-olds, more than 25% will become disabled before they retire.
Unfortunately, in the private sector few employers provide disability insurance as a benefit and private disability insurance is too expensive for many families. As a result nearly three-quarters of U.S. workers have no private long-term disability insurance, which equates to about 100 million workers without this safety net. These facts point up why Social Security Disability Insurance is critically important to protect those Americans who need it the most.
For more than six decades SSDI has provided basic but essential protection. Today, it protects more than 9 out of 10 American workers and their families in the event of a life-changing disability or illness that prevents substantial work. More than half of U.S. families are so strapped financially that they are unable save any of their annual incomes. If they became disabled, most workers would find it exceedingly difficult to meet their financial obligations without SSDI.
