There are many factors that will go into whether or not you will qualify for SSDI benefits. One of these factors is that you need to have enough of what is called work credits. Work credits are a system used by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to calculate whether you have enough work history to be eligible to receive benefits. Work history is important, because to qualify it is a requirement that you have paid into the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) throughout your employment history. Most people who are employed in the United States pay into this system, as do their employers. 

If you are looking to receive disability benefits, another requirement is that you must be completely unable to perform the requirements of your profession. The SSA must also decide that you can’t adapt to other work as the result of your disability, which is often a point of trouble for people applying for Social Security Disability Insurance.

There’s some math involved in calculating eligibility for SSDI. The Social Security Administration requires that you have at least 40 work credits to be qualified as “insured” by the program. You gain work credits by paying into the system, which we covered above with the FICA. Twenty of those credits must have been earned in the last 5 years, however, if you’re younger you may not have to have as many credits to qualify. If you’re under 31 years old, the requirements are a bit different. If you’re above that age, you must have worked at least five of the last ten years in full-time work.