Disability is supposed to be granted upon the inability to perform SGA.
While there are instances when I question some issues related to SSI and other entitlement programs, I do not believe that just because a person is older and have payed into the system longer, that they are more deserving of SSDI benefits. If you view SSDI as an insurance policy, (something you pay into) then it's reasonable to expect a person will be eligible for benefits as soon as they're in need. Should a person have to pay car insurance for 20 years before they're eligible to utilize the benefits from the policy?
A 25 year old or 30 year old that had worked since 16 and develops a severe disability has a much harder time being approved for SSDI than a 50 year old with fewer limitations. Those that further their education and go college and are faced with a disability shortly thereafter have an even higher threshold to prove that they're unable to perform any type of work... Add in that a younger applicant is much less likely to have personal financial resources to utilize while trying to prove their case... For those with young children, it can be especially difficult.
Are there people that have no motivation to work and just want an easy monthly check? Sure, but I always question the mental health of someone so young with such little drive as to fake or exaggerate a disability to collect such a small check, quite frankly.
I believe there are fewer undeserving SSI/SSDI young beneficiaries than the general public assumes. Like my young neighbor who was born with a genetic disorder and is wheelchair bound, or my cousin who was discharged from the military when it was discovered he had schizophrenia, there are tens of thousands of young SSI/SSDI beneficiaries that struggle with the most basic of daily activities--that are isolated and lonely, and want nothing more than to be able to work or go to school, that want a significant other or to start a family of their own, but their disability makes it difficult if not impossible for them to ever fulfill those dreams.
I am incredibly grateful that if it was in God's plan that I develop RSD/CRPS--an illness I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy--that I was able to go to college beforehand, that I could deliver pizza so I'd meet my ex-husband and have an amazing child, that I was able to enjoy my son's childhood, that I was able to travel quite a bit with family and friends, that I hiked in some of the most beautiful places in the country, that I went to an insane amount of concerts, that I went dancing every weekend for years, and that I found and excelled at work I truly enjoyed all before becoming disabled.
It took me a long while to appreciate that I was lucky to have had excellent health for a solid ten years as an adult. And I haven't lost hope that perhaps medical advances will allow me to become more functional or even put my illness into remission at some point.
So, I feel great empathy for those young adults that will miss out on so much by not having the ability to work.
While I understand that the SSI/SSDI process is frustrating and it can become personal for many, I just want to remind older applicants that younger applicants are not inherently less "worthy" of benefits. Please try to view your situation from the perspective that it was a blessing for you to retain your health as long as you did. If you put yourself in other people's shoes, or even imagine all you would have missed out on if at 18 or at 20 you had developed all the health issues you must currently deal with. When you think of it that way, does receiving a SSI check sound like a good trade off for being disabled your entire adult life?
None of us want to be judged by strangers about how deserving we are of SSI or SSDI benefits, but we're often not willing to extend the same courtesy to others. I have been guilty of this myself at times, but my goal is to treat every single disabled SSI/SSDI applicant and beneficiary with respect and to refrain from judging their "worthiness" for collecting benefits. I've learned over the years that those that are often in the most need of help will often sabotage their own applications due to mental impairments.
