I found this article interesting

UNFIT FOR WORK: The startling rise of disability in America

In the past three decades, the number of Americans who are on disability has skyrocketed. The rise has come even as medical advances have allowed many more people to remain on the job, and new laws have banned workplace discrimination against the disabled. Every month, 14 million people now get a disability check from the government.

The federal government spends more money each year on cash payments for disabled former workers than it spends on food stamps and welfare combined. Yet people relying on disability payments are often overlooked in discussions of the social safety net. People on federal disability do not work. Yet because they are not technically part of the labor force, they are not counted among the unemployed.

In other words, people on disability don't show up in any of the places we usually look to see how the economy is doing. But the story of these programs -- who goes on them, and why, and what happens after that -- is, to a large extent, the story of the U.S. economy. It's the story not only of an aging workforce, but also of a hidden, increasingly expensive safety net.

For the past six months, I've been reporting on the growth of federal disability programs. I've been trying to understand what disability means for American workers, and, more broadly, what it means for poor people in America nearly 20 years after we ended welfare as we knew it. Here's what I found.

I know several people on disability, all legitimately so, and who had to work very hard to get certified as disabled by the government. It's a long and frustrating process, and then often you're stuck without access to Medicare for a long time after you finally start getting those other benefits, and it's crazy. I sometimes think they make it so hard that you're just likely to give up and die. But for other people, it's relatively easy to get on disability, even if they could work in other areas--and this is the kicker--if they had other job skills. That's what this article looks at, the use of disability as a safety net for workers no longer relevant in the workforce, who do not have the education or opportunity to get jobs that would allow them to work with whatever physical or mental ailments they might have, and a system that is designed to perpetuate the problems inherent in the system. It's an interesting read.

Musing over this

In Hard Economy for All Ages, Older Isn’t Better ... It’s Brutal

The share of older people applying for Social Security early spiked during the recession as people sought whatever income they could find. The penalty they will pay is permanent, as retirees who take benefits at age 62 — as Ms. Zimmerman did, to help make her mortgage payments — will receive 30 percent less in each month’s check for the rest of their lives than they would if they had waited until full retirement age (66 for those born after 1942).

This is the situation my mother is in. She lost her job and was drawing unemployment as well as social security at the same time for awhile. She's just going to turn 66 this year, so her early draw has penalised her income, but was sorely needed when the bottom of the oeconomy fell out from under her.

I worry about age discrimination even at my age (I'm going to turn 46 soon), but for people my mother's age, it's pretty much a given, and so hard to prove. I worry about the same thing happening to me. Even if I am able to work until the age necessary, and even if social security is still around (big ifs), I have to work till 70 to receive my full benefits. I'm doing what I supposed to be doing--paying into retirement, paying into social security and Medicare, but you know, so did they. So it's a little scary, especially as I have two years left to find a job (with benefits--I have to health insurance due to my diabetes) before my job ends.