SSDI Work Credits Explained for Kansas Residents

Social Security Disability Insurance is not a program you simply apply for — it is one you earn through years of contributing to the Social Security system. Before the Social Security Administration will even evaluate your medical condition, it first asks a fundamental question: have you worked enough to qualify? For Kansas residents navigating the SSDI process, understanding how work credits function is often the difference between a successful claim and an immediate denial that never reaches a medical review.

What Are Social Security Work Credits?

Work credits are the unit of measurement the Social Security Administration uses to determine whether a worker has contributed sufficiently to the Social Security trust fund. Every time you earn wages or self-employment income, a portion goes toward Social Security taxes — and in return, you accumulate credits based on your annual earnings.

In 2024, you earn one work credit for every $1,730 in covered earnings, and you can earn a maximum of four credits per year. This threshold adjusts slightly each year based on average national wages. As a practical matter, most full-time workers in Kansas — whether employed in agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, or any other industry — accumulate four credits annually without any special effort.

The credits themselves do not expire in the traditional sense, but their relevance to your SSDI eligibility does diminish over time if you stop working. This is a critical concept that catches many Kansas claimants off guard.

How Many Credits Do You Need to Qualify?

The SSA applies two separate credit-based tests to determine SSDI eligibility. Both must be satisfied:

• Total credits test: Most applicants need at least 40 work credits total — roughly equivalent to 10 years of full-time work at any point in their lifetime.
• Recent work test: You must have earned a minimum number of credits in the years immediately before your disability began. The SSA calls this the "recent work" requirement, and it is where many Kansas workers run into problems.

The recent work test is age-dependent. If you become disabled before age 24, you may qualify with as few as 6 credits earned in the 3 years prior to your disability. Workers between ages 24 and 31 must have credits covering half the period between age 21 and their onset date. For workers age 31 and older — which represents the majority of Kansas SSDI applicants — the general rule is that you need 20 credits earned within the 10-year period ending when your disability began.

This means a 50-year-old Kansas factory worker who stopped working in 2020 due to a back injury must show at least 20 credits earned between 2010 and 2020. If that worker left the workforce in 2015 to care for a family member and only returned sporadically, they may fall short of this threshold even with decades of prior contributions.

The Date Last Insured: A Deadline That Cannot Be Ignored

One of the most misunderstood concepts in SSDI law is the Date Last Insured (DLI). This is the date on which your insured status expires — the last date by which your disability must have begun for you to be eligible for SSDI benefits based on your work record.

Kansas claimants who delay filing often discover, to their detriment, that their DLI has already passed. Once it does, you cannot retroactively establish eligibility simply by filing a claim. The SSA will require medical evidence showing that your disabling condition existed on or before your DLI, which can be exceedingly difficult to prove years after the fact if treatment records are incomplete or unavailable.

You can find your estimated DLI on your Social Security Statement, accessible through the SSA's online portal. If you are currently out of work due to a disabling condition, determine your DLI immediately. Every month without medical documentation of your condition is a month you may struggle to recover later.

Special Situations Affecting Kansas Workers

Certain employment categories common in Kansas carry unique implications for work credit accumulation. Agricultural workers, including those employed on Kansas wheat farms and ranches, may work seasonally and should verify that their employers are properly reporting wages to the SSA. Misclassification as an independent contractor — a practice unfortunately common in agriculture and construction — can result in unreported earnings and missing credits.

Self-employed Kansas business owners must pay both the employee and employer portions of Social Security taxes (the full 15.3% self-employment tax) and must file Schedule SE with their federal returns each year. Underreporting income to reduce tax liability — a tempting but legally dangerous practice — directly reduces the work credits you accumulate and can ultimately disqualify you from SSDI when you need it most.

Kansas state government employees and certain local government workers hired before 1986 may have been covered under a state pension system rather than Social Security. These workers may have substantially fewer Social Security credits than expected. If you worked for a Kansas municipality or the state itself, verify your Social Security earnings history carefully before assuming you meet the credit requirements.

What Happens If You Do Not Have Enough Credits

Falling short of the work credit threshold does not necessarily mean the end of the road for disability benefits. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a separate federal program administered by the SSA that provides disability benefits based on financial need rather than work history. SSI does not require any prior work credits and is available to Kansas residents with limited income and resources who meet the SSA's medical disability standards.

The trade-off is that SSI benefit amounts are generally lower than SSDI payments, and eligibility is means-tested — meaning your household income and assets are scrutinized. Kansas does not supplement federal SSI payments with a state benefit, unlike some other states, so recipients receive only the federal base amount.

For individuals who have some work history but not enough to qualify for SSDI alone, it may be worth reviewing whether a spouse's or parent's work record could support a different type of Social Security benefit, such as disabled adult child benefits or disabled widow/widower benefits. These have distinct eligibility rules but do not require your own work credits.

If you are currently working and approaching a potential disability, continue working as long as medically safe to do so. Each quarter of covered employment adds credits toward your eligibility and extends your DLI further into the future, providing more runway to establish a valid claim if your condition worsens.

Gathering your complete Social Security earnings record — available as a free download from SSA.gov — is the essential first step for any Kansas resident considering an SSDI application. Errors in SSA records do occur, and disputing them requires documentation of your actual earnings history, which is far easier to obtain while those records are still accessible.

Need Help? If you have questions about your case, call or text 833-657-4812 for a free consultation with an experienced attorney.

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