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Recent Work Test
Most people need to have worked five of the last ten years, or at least part of those years, to get 20 "work credits" to pass the recent work test.
Social Security's rules were historically based on calendar quarters (for example, one quarter is January through March). But today, it doesn't matter whether you work during each calendar quarter. You simply get one quarter's worth of credit for each $1,810 of work that you do each year. You can get up to four work credits in a year if you do at least $7,240 of work that year.
If you're 31 or older, you need to have 20 work credits, earned in the last 10 years, to qualify for SSDI benefits. But if you become disabled when you're younger, you don't need quite so many credits, as this chart explains:
Recent Work Test
If you become disabled… Then you generally need to have worked
When you turn age 24 or before ......... during one and a half years out of the three-year period before your disability began
After you turn age 24 but before age 31 during half of the years since you turned 21
When you turn age 31 or later..............during five years out of the ten-year period before your disability began
For example, if you become disabled when you turn age 29, you need to have at least four years of work during the eight-year period before you became disabled.
Note: If you're blind or have low vision that meets Social Security's vision listing, you don't have to meet the recent work test.
Can You Lose Work Credits?
You'll never lose work credits—they'll always stay on your record—but they could "expire" for the purposes of SSDI's recent work test. If you haven't worked in the last five years, the point at which you worked five of the last ten years is what Social Security calls your "date last insured." To qualify for SSDI, your disability onset date (the day your disability started) needs to be before your date last insured (DLI).
Medical Eligibility for SSDI: How the SSA Defines Disability
A crucial part of claiming benefits under the Social Security disability insurance program is proving that you're severely disabled. A severe disability is a physical or mental condition that prevents you from doing any work for at least a year (or that's expected to be terminal).
The determination of whether you're disabled leaves a lot of room for argument. The fact that your doctor may have advised you not to work, or that you feel too ill to work, doesn't necessarily mean that the SSA will agree that you're disabled.
The SSA evaluates disability claims using its own medical experts and claims examiners. These decision-makers use a list of physical and mental conditions in the "Blue Book" to determine if your condition is severe enough for an automatic approval of benefits. If it's not, they'll use evaluations of your "residual functional capacity" to decide whether you're disabled. In all, Social Security uses five steps to determine if your medical condition meets the definition of disability
Eligibility of Your Family Members
Members of your immediate family may also qualify for Social Security benefits based on your work, if you qualify for benefits. They include:
- your spouse, at age 62 or older
- your spouse or former spouse, at any age, who is caring for a child of yours who is younger than age 16 or disabled
- your unmarried child who is under age 18, or under age 19 if in secondary school full time, and
- your unmarried child who is age 18 or older, if they have a disability that started before age 22 ("adult child" benefits).
Your former spouse may also qualify for benefits based on your earnings record if you were married for at least 10 years and your ex is not currently married. The money paid to a divorced spouse does not reduce your benefit or any benefits owed to a current spouse or children.
Read more about dependent spousal benefits and children's benefits.
The good news is that, if you're denied benefits because the SSA says you're not disabled, you have a good chance of winning on appeal. Often you need to appear in person at a hearing and show the judge more evidence of your disability.
The notice you received from Social Security denying your benefits will include information on how to appeal the decision. You only have 60 days to appeal, so don't miss the deadline. To learn more about successfully appealing Social Security benefit denials, read our article on appealing denied disability claims.