It's a fact that, while most people spend time working to succeed in their jobs and careers, few think about ensuring that they have a safety net to fall back on should the unthinkable happen. This is where Social Security comes in. In general, we pay cash benefits to people who are unable to work for a year or more because of a disability. Benefits continue until a person is able to work again on a regular basis, and a number of work incentives are available to ease the transition back to work. That's because other programs have different definitions for disability.
Some programs pay for partial disability or for short-term disability.
Social Security does not. Disability under Social Security is based on your inability to work. Your disability also must last or be expected to last for at least a year or to result in death. This is a strict definition of disability. The program assumes that working families have access to other resources to provide support during periods of short-term disabilities, including workers' compensation, insurance, savings and investments.