ARE UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS A GOOD IDEA WHILE WAITING ON SOCIAL SECURITY?

You are sick or injured and expect to be out of work for a year or more.  Your income has suddenly been shut off.  The panic sets in.  How will you support yourself and your family?  

Unemployment benefits may come to mind.  But you are going to apply for Social Security disability benefits.  How will an application for unemployment benefits affect Social Security disability (SSDI)?

Fundamentally, state unemployment insurance and Social Security disability insurance have different goals.  Social Security pays persons who are not able to work for long periods because of medical disability, while unemployment programs pay people who are able to work but just can't find work.

UNEMPLOYMENT CHECKS - for persons who are able to work, are looking for work, but who can't find a job.  This benefit is short-term.  It is expected that the individual will soon find a job and the unemployment checks will stop.  Persons who are disabled and can't work are not eligible for unemployment benefits.

SSDI (Social Security Disability) checks are in for persons who are medically disabled for at least 12 consecutive months. To get SSDI, a person must prove by medical evidence that he/she is unable to work due to a physical and/or mental illness and that disability will last for at least 12 consecutive months.

Before considering Social Security disability, a person should ask himself this question:  Am I able to work?  Do I have a medical problem or do I have an employment problem?  Social Security disability should only be considered for medical problems that make you unable to work.

Unemployment or Vocational Problems Not Covered by Social Security include:

  • I've looked for work but no one will hire me.
  • There are no longer any jobs in my field.
  • I can't live on minimum wage and that's the only kind of job I can find.
  • If I took a job, I'd have to move out of town and I just don't want to move away.
  • To get a job at my age, I'd have to go back to school and get retrained.
Those are all examples of vocational problems (which may qualify for unemployment benefits).  However, they are not disability problems and are not covered by the Social Security Act.    

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