Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)

What is SSDI? Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is a federal social insurance program that provides monthly cash benefits to nonelderly disabled workers and their eligible dependents, provided the worker paid into the system for a sufficient number of years. The program is part of Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI), commonly known as Social Security. As with Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI)—the retirement component of Social Security—benefits are based on a worker’s past earnings in covered employment. The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers both SSDI and OASI. Who is Eligible for SSDI? To qualify for SSDI, workers must be (1) insured in the event of disability, (2) statutorily disabled, and (3) under Social Security’s full retirement age (FRA), which is 65-67, depending on year of birth. To achieve insured status, individuals must have worked in jobs covered by Social Security for about a quarter of their adult lives and fo