Disability

One government program that you don’t hear much about is disability under social security. When I was working, I helped people apply for this and it was difficult to qualify. In recent years we have witnessed an upswing in the number of people who are qualifying and this is directly related to the number who are applying. There is a direct correlation between the level of formal education and the number on disability. This is caused by two reasons. First people with less education are more likely to apply and second the income they receive is close to what they earn by working. For example a man with a wife and two children earning $30,000 per year would qualify for $1,100 per month for himself and another $700 for the family. This would be about 75% of his working wages. A man making $100,000 would get a family benefit of $4,000 per month which would be only 50% of his wages. In addition a man who is obese can still work behind a desk but not in a factory where physical labor is involved so an overweighed man with less education will likely qualify. The numbers applying and thus the numbers qualifying have increased rather dramatically since the start of the recession in 2008 and this has helped hold down the unemployment figures but with 11 million now receiving benefits the fund will be depleted in 2016. Just add that to the socials security fund, the Medicare fund and Medicaid as another area where the government is going broke.