• Just over 1 in 4 of today’s 20 year-olds will become disabled before they retire.¹
• Over 37 million Americans are classified as disabled; about 12% of the total population. More than 50% of those disabled Americans are in their working years, from 18-64.²
• 8.8 million disabled wage earners, over 5% of U.S. workers, were receiving Social Security Disability (SSDI) benefits at the end of 2012.³
• In December of 2012, there were over 2.5 million disabled workers in their 20s, 30s, and 40s receiving SSDI benefits. ³

• A typical female, age 35, 5’4″, 125 pounds, non-smoker, who works mostly an office job, with some outdoor physical responsibilities, and who leads a healthy lifestyle has the following risks:
  • A 24% chance of becoming disabled for 3 months or longer during her working career;
    • with a 38% chance that the disability would last 5 years or longer,
    • and with the average disability for someone like her lasting 82 months.
  • If this same person used tobacco and weighed 160 pounds, the risk would increase to a 41% chance of becoming disabled for 3 months or longer.
• A typical male, age 35, 5’10″, 170 pounds, non-smoker, who works an office job, with some outdoor physical responsibilities, and who leads a healthy lifestyle has the following risks:
  • A 21% chance of becoming disabled for 3 months or longer during his working career;
    • with a 38% chance that the disability would last 5 years or longer,
    • and with the average disability for someone like him lasting 82 months.
  • If this same person used tobacco and weighed 210 pounds, the risk would increase to a 45% chance of becoming disabled for 3 months or longer.

A sample of factors that increase the risk of disability: Excess body weight, tobacco use, high risk activities or behaviors, chronic conditions such as; diabetes, high blood pressure, back pain, anxiety or depression, frequent alcohol consumption or substance abuse.

A sample of factors that decrease the risk of disability: Maintaining a healthy body weight, no tobacco use, healthy diet and sleep habits, regular exercise, moderate to no alcohol consumption, avoidance of high risk behaviors including substance abuse, maintaining a healthy stress level, and effective treatment of chronic health conditions.

To calculate your own Personal Disability Quotient (PDQ), go to:
http://www.whatsmypdq.org.

To learn more about risk factors and ways to help reduce your risk, go to:
https://www.disabilitycanhappen.org/reducing_chances

• There were over 2.8 million new Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) applications in 2012, slightly lower than in the two previous years, but still 29% higher than in 2007, and 67% higher than 2002 levels.³
• 61% of surveyed wage earners personally know someone who has been disabled and unable to work for 3 months or longer.⁵
• Wage earners who know someone who has been disabled predict their own odds to be higher than respondents who do not. ⁵
• The average group long-term disability claim lasts 34.6 months.⁶
• The average individual disability claim lasts 31.6 months.⁷
• One in eight workers will be disabled for five years or more during their working careers.⁸

• 64% of wage earners believe they have a 2% or less chance of being disabled for 3 months or more during their working career.⁵ The actual odds for a worker entering the workforce today are about 25%.¹
• Most working Americans estimate that their own chances of experiencing a long term disability are substantially lower than the average worker’s.⁵

• 90% of wage earners rated their “ability to earn an income” as “valuable” or “very valuable” in helping them achieve long-term financial security — wage earners perceive their ability to earn an income as even more valuable than retirement savings, medical insurance, personal possessions, other forms of savings or their homes.⁵
• Medical problems contributed to 62%⁹ of all personal bankruptcies filed in the U.S. in 2007- an estimate of over 500,000.¹⁰ This is a 50% increase over results from a similar 2001 study.
• Medical problems contributed to half of all home foreclosure filings in 2006.¹¹

• According to CDA’s 2013 Long-Term Disability Claims Review¹², the following were the leading causes of new disability claims in 2012:
  • Musculoskeletal/connective tissue disorders (28.5%) *
  • Cancer (14.6%)
  • Injuries and poisoning (10.6%)
  • Mental disorders (8.9%)
  • Cardiovascular/circulatory disorders (8.2%)
• The most common causes of existing disability claims in 2012 were:
  • Musculoskeletal/connective tissue disorders (30.7%) *
  • Disorders of the nervous system and sense organs (14.2%)
  • Cardiovascular/circulatory disorders (12.1%)
  • Cancer (9.0%)
  • Mental disorders (7.7%)
• Approximately 90% of disabilities are caused by illnesses rather than accidents.

* This category includes claims caused by neck and back pain; joint, muscle and tendon disorders; foot, ankle and hand disorders, etc.

• Do you save any of your annual income? 48% of U.S. families don’t.¹³
• Retirement savings? One-third of us have none.¹
• 68% of adult Americans have NO savings earmarked for emergencies.¹³
• 65% of working Americans say they could not cover normal living expenses even for a year if their employment income was lost; 38% could not pay their bills for more than 3 months.⁵
• Nearly nine in ten workers (86%) surveyed believe that people should plan in their 20’s or 30’s in case an income limiting disability should occur;
  • Only half (50%) of all workers have actually planned for this possibility.
  • Fewer than half (46%) have even discussed disability planning.¹⁵

• About 100 million workers are without private disability income insurance.¹
• 69% of workers in the private sector have no private long-term disability insurance.¹

• 65% of initial SSDI claim applications were denied in 2012.³
• Can your family live on $1,130 a month? That’s the average monthly benefit paid by Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) at the end of 2012.
  • The average SSDI monthly benefit payment for males was $1,256
  • The average SSDI monthly benefit payment for females was $993¹⁶
• At the end of 2012:
  • 7.3% of SSDI recipients received less than $500 monthly.
  • 46% received less than $1,000 per month.
  • 93% received less than $2,000 per month.¹⁷
• Less than 5% of disabling accidents and illnesses are work related. The other 95% are not, meaning Workers’ Compensation doesn’t cover them.¹²