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Social Security manages two disability programs, Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, disability. Each of these programs has their own distinct non disability qualification criteria. Both programs have the same medical evaluation criteria and they are sent to the same state disability agencies for disability determinations. And Supplemental Security Income disability and Social Security disability claims are sent simultaneously for a medical determination if an individual meets the non-disability criteria of both disability programs. So can someone claim Social Security disability if they have never worked? Well, if an individual has never been able to work, has not worked much, or has not worked much in the last few years, they may assume that they cannot claim Social Security disability. In a sense they are right. They may not meet the insured status criteria for Social Security disability, which simply means that they have worked enough in the past and currently to be insured for Social Security disability. Insured status for Social Security disability is based upon the wages that are reported by the Internal Revenue Service to an individual’s earnings record each year. An individual can earn up to four quarters of coverage per year and if they have enough quarters of coverage and enough of those quarters occurred in the past ten years they may be insured for Social Security disability. So what does an individual do if they have not worked enough for Social Security disability? Well as I stated earlier, Social Security manages two disability programs. Supplemental Security Income disability is a disability program based upon need, not insured status. An individual can claim disability through this program if they are found to medically disabled and they meet the income and resource limits for the program. Social Security sets income limits each year for this program and although the resource limit has not changed in years, Social Security has the right to change those limits as well. As it stands currently, an individual is allowed to have 2000.00 in resources (the program excuses the home you live in and the vehicle with the highest value). If an individual has other resources such as land, other vehicles, stocks, 401K, or checking or savings accounts, they count toward the $2000.00 limit for individuals or the 3000.00 limit for couples. If the individual or couple is over these limits, their SSI claim will be denied due to resources. Income limits change each year but remain low for both individuals and couples. So to answer the above question, someone cannot claim Social Security disability if they have never worked, but they can claim disability through the Supplemental Security Income disability program if they are found medically disabled by Social Security and they meet the income and resource limits for the Supplemental Security Income disability program. 
Social Security Disability and SSI Disability Information
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