Published by Trustmark Voluntary Benefits on May 16th, 2019

Stats can be tricky, which is why context is always important. For example: a number one selling shoe? Sounds, impressive. But a number one selling shoe at a store that only offers one type of shoe? Not so impressive. So, for Disability Insurance Awareness Month, we thought we’d provide a little more context to some of the stats we see when discussing disability insurance to help drive home the importance of protecting your paycheck.

  • 1 in 4 of today’s twenty-year-olds will experience a disability before they retire.1 
  • By contrast, 25.4 percent of American households own a cat.2 So, today’s twenty-year-olds are as likely to experience a disability as they are to own a cat.
  • Almost 8 out of 10 (80%) American workers say they live paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet.3 
  • Professional football is the country’s most popular sport, but just 57 percent of people are fans.4 It may not make for great talk at the water cooler, but It’s much more likely that your coworkers are living paycheck to paycheck than they are following the local football team.
  • A quarter (25%) of short-term disability claims are for pregnancy.5
  • By the end of childbearing years, 86% of U.S. women have had kids.6 So, the role that disability insurance can play for potential parents is critical.
  • Over 37 million Americans are classified as disabled; about 12% of the total population. More than half of those people are in their working years.7
  • Using those numbers, that would put us at roughly 19 million disabled workers. That’s nearly the population of the state of New York.8
  • The average individual disability claim lasts 31.6 months.7
  • The median weekly earnings for a full-time worker is $905.9 That means that over 31.6 months, the average disability would translate to $114,392 in lost income without disability protection.

A little further context goes to show just how important it is to protect your paycheck. Since May is Disability Insurance Awareness Month, be sure to share the message and help people find their way to this much-needed protection.

1 The Facts about Social Security’s Disability Program. Social Security Administration. 2019.
2 Pet Owner Stable, Veterinary Care Variable. American Veterinary Medical Association. 2019.
3 Vast numbers of workers live paycheck to paycheck. CBSNews.com. 2017.
4 How many Americans are Sports Fans?. Marketing Charts. 2017.
5 Health and Productivity Benchmarking 2016. Integrated Benefits Institute.
6 No, All Those Strollers Aren't Your Imagination. More Women Are Having Children. TIME. 2018.
7 Disability Statistics. Council for Disability Awareness. 2013.
8 Census.gov. May 2019.
9 Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Works: First Quarter 2019. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2019.