individual who earned credits 20 years ago may find that not all of them count. For example, consider the case of a 42-year-old woman who worked full-time from age 21 to 31 and thus earned 40 credits. She has twice the number of credits required to receive benefits if she becomes disabled at age 32. However, if this woman exits the workforce at 32 to raise young children or attend school full-time:

When she re-enters the job market as a full-time worker at, say, age 42, she has no qualifying credits, and will not receive benefits if she becomes disabled.
As she ages, the bar becomes higher; thus, if she re-enters the workforce at 44, because she is older she would need 22 credits, meaning she would have to work at least 5 years more before regaining her eligibility.
Any additional credits she needs can be drawn from the earlier years she worked, but the requirement for 20 credits in the 10 previous years does not change.
Furthermore, a woman entering the workforce for the first time as an older adult — as the result of a divorce, for instance — has to earn all her required credits in the current 10 year period. Thus, a 44-year-old woman who had not previously earned credits would not be eligible for disability until age 52.
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With waiting times ranging up into the 1000+ /day range in a few Hearing Offices, the backlog time has drawn extensive media coverage as the human suffering involved in these delays comes to light. Our national association of Social Security lawyers has posted this link, listing numerous TV, radio and newspaper stories on this subject. Click this link:

Critics of Social Security and some of its friends often ask why its return on our investment, the years of payroll deductions, is so small. That would be a fair question if Social Security were an investment program, but it’s not. It’s more than that, much more.

A unique new report was released last month by the nonpartisan, nonprofit National Academy of Social Insurance titled “Social Security: An Essential Asset and Insurance Protection for All.” As far as I know, it’s the first close look at the monetary value of Social Security for all beneficiaries. Social Security is a life insurance policy with survivor benefits, disability insurance and, most important, it’s one of the nation’s few remaining guaranteed defined-benefit pension plans. And it’s worth thousands more than most retirement savings plans or annuities. See Full Newsday Article Here:

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced that the agency has begun making offers to 144 of the 175 new Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) it will hire this fiscal year. Due to litigation and budget cuts, the agency has about ten percent fewer ALJs than it did a decade ago. During that same time, the number of cases waiting for a hearing decision has more than doubled.

“The hiring of these new ALJs is a critical step in our plan to reduce the backlog of disability cases,” Commissioner Astrue said. “They represent one of the largest investments in ALJs this agency has ever made. When these ALJs are fully-trained, and combined with the other steps we are taking, we will be able for the first time in this decade to reduce the number of cases waiting for a disability hearing. I can hardly wait for them to start.”

The new ALJs will be brought on board in phases with the first hires reporting for duty in April, when they will begin an intensive orientation and training program. While initially handling a reduced docket, newly hired ALJs should be scheduling a full docket of cases by the end of the year.
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