More women applying for SSDI benefits

From an Allsup press release:

Belleville, Ill. -- More working mothers are becoming disabled and losing their ability to support their families. That means it's even more important for women to understand the role of Social Security disability insurance, according to Allsup, which represents tens of thousands of people in the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) process each year.

In the past decade, from 1999 to 2009, the rate of disability for women has grown by about 72 percent compared with nearly 42 percent for men, according to the Social Security Administration. Since 1990, the number of working women who are fully insured for Social Security benefits has grown by 28 percent to 99.7 million women. As of April 2009, 3.6 million women were receiving SSDI benefits as disabled workers.

Disabilities may result from an accident, a chronic disease or worsening condition. Some of the diagnoses affecting women include multiple sclerosis, cancer, Parkinson's disease, stroke, depression and fibromyalgia.

"Women may not realize they are insured for disability benefits, especially during the period before they experience a severe disability," said Cindy Ratermann, manager of disability claims specialists at Allsup. "Women who are widows or widows with young children also may qualify for Social Security benefits based on their husband's work record, so this is another option to consider."

SSDI is a federally mandated insurance program overseen by the Social Security Administration (SSA) that operates separately from the retirement and SSI programs. SSDI provides monthly benefits to individuals who are under full retirement age (age 65 or older) and can no longer work because of a disability (injury, illness or condition) expected to last for at least 12 months or is terminal. Individuals must have paid FICA taxes to be eligible.