Social Security Advisory Board, Part II

 Posted on March 02, 2012 in Social Security Disability

The Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB) in February published an extensive document discussing the Social Security disability system entitled, "Aspects of Disability Decision Making: Data and Materials." In that document, the SSAB produced a number of different statistical charts and graph composites of the data they collected.  One such graph discussed the percentage of the United States population receiving Social Security Disability Insurance by gender and age group in 2010.

While the percentages comparing men and women are about the same, what should be noted is the trend that the SSAB was able to come up with.  The fact of the matter is that more people are getting on disability benefits over 50 than anyone else in the population.  Whereas individuals under the age of 30 receiving disability benefits account for less than 2% of the population, people between the ages of 50-60 on disability account for 6-14% of the people in the United States.  While the data does not clearly demonstrate why this is the case, this trend is most likely due to the government making it easier for people that are older to get disability benefits and because the likelihood of getting ill increases as you get older.