Substantial gainful activity is a term used in the United States by the

Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that administers Social Security (United ...

(SSA). Being incapable of substantial gainful employment is one of the criteria for eligibility for

Supplemental Security Income Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a means-tested program that provides cash payments to disabled children, disabled adults, and individuals aged 65 or older who are citizens or nationals of the United States. SSI was created by the Social Se ...

(SSI) or

Social Security Disability Insurance Social Security Disability Insurance (SSD or SSDI) is a payroll tax-funded federal insurance program of the United States government. It is managed by the Social Security Administration and designed to provide monthly benefits to people who ha ...

(SSDI) benefits. It is known as the "SGA requirement," and is defined in Section 520 of the

Social Security Act The Social Security Act of 1935 is a law enacted by the 74th United States Congress and signed into law by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The law created the Social Security program as well as insurance against unemployment. The law was pa ...

. To be eligible for SSI, an applicant must meet the following three conditions: they must have little or no income or resources, be considered medically disabled, and either not be working or working but earning less than the substantial gainful activity level. To be eligible for SSDI, an applicant must have worked and paid

Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

taxes for enough years to be covered under Social Security, as well as being medically disabled and either not be working or working but earning less than the substantial gainful activity level. Substantial gainful activity is defined by the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

as "the performance of significant duties over a reasonable period of time while working for pay or profit, or in work generally done for pay or profit." Inability to engage in substantial gainful activity means that if a person works, they earn less than a certain amount of money. For non-blind people, the amount set by the SSA for 2009-10 was $980 per month. If a claimant were to earn more than the set amount, they would no longer be considered disabled by the SSA, regardless of their medical condition, and their benefits would cease after two further disability checks. SGA does not include any work a claimant does to take care of themselves, their families or home. It does not include

unpaid work Unpaid labor or unpaid work is defined as labor or work that does not receive any direct remuneration. This is a form of non-market work which can fall into one of two categories: (1) unpaid work that is placed within the production boundary of ...

on hobbies, volunteer work, institutional therapy or training, attending school, clubs, social programs or similar activities: however, such unpaid work may provide evidence that a claimant is capable of substantial gainful activity. Earnings derived from criminal activity count in assessing whether someone is engaged in substantial gainful activity.

References

{{Reflist Social security in the United States