How does a person’s age fit into the disability determination?
The Social Security Act requires SSA to consider a person’s age in determining a disability. A younger person’s body typically reacts (heals) differently to an injury than an older person’s body would react to the same injury. For example, a foot or ankle injury to a 34 year old man whose job required him to stand or walk for 8 hours of his work day might cause him to switch jobs to one that would allow him to sit for most of the time. That same injury to a 60 year old in the same employment type could be more dramatic in that the 60 year old might not be able to change to a different job type.
