Comment by olalonde

16 hours ago

> Fewer than 1 percent of those who were on the federal program for disabled workers at the beginning of 2011 have returned to the workforce since then, one economist told me.

Do they lose their "disabled" status if they go back to work? If so, that seems like a textbook poverty trap. Why risk losing lifetime free money for a minimum wage job that might not last?

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olalonde

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genewitch  16 hours ago

I have a friend 'trapped' by government aid. They receive some benefits from being diagnosed with something as a minor and their father received a government aid that conferred to them. Its SSDI IIRC; the rules say they can't get married, can't own property, can't earn more than $X/unit of time.

The 27 years I've known them have been punctuated by my saying "what if you do this to solve your current issue" and the reply is "I'll lose my benefits"

I'm unfit to say if they need it; as in I am unsure if their life would be worse or better without.

Don't read too much into the setup, above; my memory is fuzzy unless I am directly talking to them about it, and even so they correct me like, "its not ssi it's ssdi," or whatever it is. This is to +1 with an anecdote.

  • roarcher  13 hours ago

    I dated a disabled woman for a bit, and this is exactly how it was. Every possible solution to her situation had better be 100% guaranteed to work, because it was guaranteed to get her ejected from SSDI, never able to reapply unless she developed a new and unrelated disability.

    She wasn't even allowed to save money for an emergency fund or a large purchase because there was a limit to how much liquid cash she could have at any time, and it was something like $2000. If she demonstrated an ability to save more than that, the bureaucrats would take that as irrefutable evidence that she was well enough off to not need help, and boot her from the program.

    Every single thing about the way that program is administered actively prevents its users from bettering their situation.

    • genewitch  12 hours ago

      a refrain i hear a lot from my friend, who does actually have issues, i wasn't trying to imply they didn't^, is, "What if i [go to school], get a job, and then something happens where i can't work, but they've already kicked me off? I'd be in a way worse position"

      They could go to school and make enough money to take care of themselves, obviously, but the threat of losing the safety net is enough that they still never went to school, and have only worked for retail a few times over the years for maybe 6-12 hours a week, obviously at minimum wage.

      ^ just in case it seems that way.

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