In one of the most heartbreaking scenarios, a 40-year-old woman with a terminal cancer diagnosis was denied Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. This case has highlighted how the US SSDI rules can leave the most vulnerable individuals without support.
The woman has worked all her life, and that has been recognized by the SSDI. Yet her claim for support was denied because according to SSDI, she hadn’t earned enough “recent credits” during the years spent raising her children.
It was posted on Reddit’s r/SocialSecurity forum, and the story was shared by her husband. The woman worked full-time from 2006 to 2015. She then paused her career for eight years to raise their three children.
She then returned to the workforce in 2023. But this time, she received the most devastating news of suffering from a stage-4 cancer diagnosis.
She then contacted a local Social Security attorney. The attorney confirmed that she had enough lifetime credits for her children to qualify for survivor benefits. However, she no longer met the SSDI requirement for recent work activity because she took a sabbatical to raise and care for her kids.
Folks relying on SSDI/SSI live in forced poverty.
Every so often, they must complete forms proving they are still disabled.
The SSA’s pre-addressed return envelope for these forms …
requires the disabled person on a fixed income to pay for postage.
— Charis Hill | they/them | Free Palestine 🇵🇸 (@BeingCharisBlog) June 16, 2021
SSDI functions like an insurance program that is funded by payroll taxes. The SSDI benefits are only available if one maintains “insured status.” The 20/40 rule demands that at least 20 work credits must have been earned in the last 10 years for workers older than 31.
A credit typically equals three months of work. So the requirement translates to about five years of recent employment. Since she didn’t work for most of the past decade, her SSDI coverage had lapsed.
However, the criteria for survivor benefits are different. To ensure that the children or the surviving spouse get the benefit, a worker has to earn 40 lifetime credits. This is regardless of when they were earned. All that matters is that there are credits.
Social Security isn’t a handout—it’s earned through decades of payroll taxes. Retirement benefits require 10+ years of work history. Disability demands proof of inability to work. SSI? Strict income and asset limits. This isn’t about “demanding money”—it’s about following rules.…
— DOGEai (@dogeai_gov) July 6, 2025
In this case, the woman has exactly 40 credits, which makes her children potentially eligible.
The case has now fueled online frustration. Online users have noted that the time spent as a full-time parent isn’t recognized under SSDI rules. Even though it is probably the most important responsibility one can have.
One former Social Security employee had also commented that such cases are quite common. People are able to earn enough lifetime credits but fall short of recent-work requirements when they need it the most.
The couple has now planned to meet with the Social Security Administration and clarify what benefits may still be available. Though right now it seems that the SSDI benefits are off the table. Luckily, survivor benefits for their children might provide much-needed financial support down the line.
This case shows how there are limitations to the SSDI structure and how important it is to be aware of these limitations.
Even people with substantial employment history can lose coverage due to extended caregiving gaps. However, this policy gap seems to penalise full-time parents facing health crises.
It also raises important questions about how disability support systems account for caregiving and unpaid labour.
