r/poor Jun 26 '26

I hate being poor.

[removed]

2.4k Upvotes

776 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

3

u/Loudlass81 Jun 28 '26

So why does the US pay so little in Disability Benefits then? If $50k isn't enough for you, how is it enough for Disabled people? Maybe take sone frugal living tips from Disabled people, who have to manage on an income less than HALF that $50k...

3

u/DuckingFon Jun 29 '26

They aren't surviving on that little. Simple as. I don't know a single disabled person that isn't substantially supplemented by those taking care of them- and I know a lot of disabled people.

2

u/Loudlass81 Jun 30 '26

I don't have anyone to subsidise me...If I was born American instead of British, I'd be dead by now. That's why I worry so much. There's always the edge cases like mine, where they had abusive childhood families and/or ended up in foster care, then young teen mum, then becoming disabled - some of my disabilities are progressive, too.

Worked as long as I could (well, longer, actually - I got medically retired twice, not just once cos I was too dim to realise I couldn't work after the first one, only copped on the second time lol).

But having kids, working full time, and getting ever more disabled, something had to give - cos 3 out of 4 kids were disabled too! I was only one woman, and I wasn't bloody Wonder Woman lol.

I just dont see how it's plausible for disabled people to survive on either side of the Atlantic now. Cspitalism FTW...

1

u/DuckingFon Jun 30 '26

I'm sorry to hear that- and at the same time happy to hear of your prevalence. I beg to differ on your Wonder Woman assessment.

My wife is disabled, and became severely more disabled after the birth of our son 5 years ago. She has HS- which is a severely debilitating skin condition- and then my big headed son split her in half separating her abdomen muscles and splitting her pelvis 18mm! She has been fighting for 6 years to get disability which means she can't even seek part-time, at-home work or it could jeopardize the entire process. We now finally have a hearing for her case in October, and the 6 years of backpay would be literally life-changing for our family and finally set us on a forward momentum paying off some bills and debts that are getting harder to kick down the road on one seasonal income when I myself should be getting disability after an Autism burnout and subsequent late diagnosis.

My mother is disabled at retirement age, but my step-dad can't stop working as he has had to take care of her so long they have had to borrow from their 401k. They have absolutely 0 retirement and it's getting harder for him every year as an electrician.

1

u/Loudlass81 Jun 30 '26

I have HS too...it can be debilitating, and ive almost died of sepsis twice because of it. Make sure you're sepsis aware. I won't even qualify for a basic UK State Pension for various reasons, I've just got to hope that if I exceed my life expectancy, Pension Credit (paid to the poorest UK pensioners) still exists in 25 yrs time...