The Social Security Disability Insurance system provides a safety net for people who no longer can work due to a physical or mental condition. A monthly stipend is provided until beneficiaries are entitled to Social Security retirement benefits at age 66.
High unemployment and an aging population have left the system under severe financial pressure. The program could exhaust its reserves within six years. Beneficiaries rose to 10.6 million in November, from 6.9 million at the end of 2001. Currently 43% of applicants claim mental illness.
Roughly 5.3 percent of the population between the ages of 25 and 64 is currently collecting federal disability payments.
Higher education jobs become more scarce. Advertisements for job openings in higher education rose 16.5 percent in the third quarter of 2011, according to a new report from HigherEdJobs, the leading source for jobs and career information in academia. The number of actual jobs in higher education also grew in Q3, but at a slower pace than previous quarters.
http://www.higheredjobs.com/career/quarterly-report.cfm
The report also found that colleges and universities continued to increase their reliance on part-time faculty during the third quarter. Postings for part-time faculty were up 18.1 percent. The percentage of faculty postings for part-time employees increased to 20.3 percent, up from 19.5 percent in 2010.