I was amazed (or maybe dismayed) when I saw the link on Drudge to an IBD article that reported 3.1 million workers joining the ranks of those on disability:
The economy created just 80,000 jobs in June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. But that same month, 85,000 workers left the workforce entirely to enroll in the Social Security Disability Insurance program, according to the Social Security Administration.
The disability ranks have outpaced job growth throughout President Obama’s economic recovery. While the economy has created 2.6 million jobs since June 2009, fully 3.1 million workers signed up for disability benefits.
In other words, the number of new disability enrollees has climbed 19% faster than the number of new jobs created during the sluggish recovery.
What is also amazing, or depressing, I guess, is that “more than 99 percent of all SSDI beneficiaries remain in the program until retirement age.” One silver lining might be that there is a higher percentage of men on disability benefits than women. Frankly, if men are not entitled to WIC or many other benefits, they might as well get something.
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