Social Security disability benefits exist to ease the financial burden of loss of work due to a disability that'll last 1 year or longer.

As of Dec 2022, new applicants had to wait a record-breaking 7 months to find out if they were accepted. Historically, only ~ 1/3 are. 🧵

According to data from the Social Security Administration, fewer new applications are submitted for disability benefits per month since the start of the pandemic than there were before.

But number of applications pending a review & decision continue to grow.

According to the SSA, the issue lies in lack of employees and funding. They've lost around 7% of their workforce during the pandemic. And in the Disability Determination Services offices that make the initial eligibility decisions, attrition rates are around 25%.

Dive more into the data and what I've learned about this lengthy process in my latest: usafacts.org/data-projects/disability-benefit-wait-time