Types of Disability

There are two main types of Social Security disability: SSI and SSD.

SSD stands for Social Security Disability, and is sometimes referred to as SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) or just “Disability.” SSD is a work-based program, that generally requires an individual to have worked roughly half of the last 10 years, although the details of how that is calculated can be much more complicated based on the situation.

SSI stands for Social Security Income or Supplemental Security Income, depending on who you ask and when you ask them. SSI is an income-based program, though. This means a household must be under a certain financial limit in order to qualify, even if an individual is disabled. The income limit is based on your household size, but an individual will typically qualify for some assistance if their income is less than $30,000/year. However, convincing Social Security you are disabled will be nearly impossible if you are making more than $1,000/month from work activity. Any amount of work activity can be held against you. 

These two programs do not catch all disabled individuals in the country. There are many individuals who cannot work due to medical conditions who do not qualify for either program. For instance, stay-at-home mothers/fathers often fall into this category. If someone has not worked for any reason, such as raising their children for the last 10 or 20 years, they will not have the work history to qualify for SSD. Without the work history, the severity of their disability is irrelevant. If that person has a spouse whose income is over roughly $30,000/year, then they will be above the financial limits to qualify for SSI. If one’s household, not them as an individual, has more income than the SSI income limits, then they will not qualify for SSI no matter how serious their disabilities are. In cases like those, an individual may be unable to work, but fail to meet the technical requirements set by the Social Security Administration.