Ginnie's story is important because it shows how crucial working and paying Social Security taxes can be for people who are not wealthy. Disability can strike at any time and without Social Security disability, there would be many many many people who would run out of life savings pretty quickly and would either rely on family or public assistance like SSI. Working out her home, probably for cash: I am guessing that no self-employment tax returns were filed for some of the years and no FICA taxes paid on some of those years since there was no employer.

There are many people who don't make a plan for this kind of possibility, who never took the time to understand why certain taxes are paid (FICA vs income tax) and are quite surprised later in life when they don't qualify, like the OP. When you are working, it is nicer to have the money in your pocket now rather than paying a FICA tax for some old-age pension. The information has always been available, but it would require searching it out. I suppose it could be taught in some life skill class in high school, but teenagers are the least likely to absorb that information since they tend to believe they are indestructible.

Becoming disabled at age 29 will not allow for entitlement on a parent. Childhood disability benefits were designed for adults who did become disabled either at birth or as children since they would have had no chance to earn Social Security credits on their own. Mostly the developmentally disabled but also children who had serious medical conditions early.