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The startling rise of disability in America (2013)
In the past three decades, the number of Americans who are on disability has skyrocketed. The rise has come even as medical advances have allowed many more people to remain on the job and new laws have banned workplace discrimination against the disabled. Every month, 14 million people now get a disability check from the federal government.
Credit: Brinson Banks for NPR Dinah Holley, Dorothy Simmons and Gloria Ballard line up at a bill pay station inside Hulls Dry Goods in Hale Countyon March 1. Credit: Brinson Banks for NPR"I broke all five of my right toes, my right hip, seven of my vertebrae, shattering one, breaking a right rib, punctured my lung, and then I cracked my neck," says Dane Mitchell, describing the car accident that left him unable to work. Credit: Brinson Banks for NPR Ethel Thomas of Hale County, shown with her husband and grandchildren, is on disability for back pain after working many years at the local fish plant, and then as a nurse's aide.
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