Social Security Disability Insurance is a government program that supports American workers who are injured or ill and cannot return to work. Payments are sent through the mail to ensure that the disabled individual and his or her family have the means necessary to feed, clothes, and shelter themselves. The benefits given are often proportionate to the disabled individual's previous income level, so as to attempt to maintain his or her quality of life. In addition to the benefits paid out to the disabled worker, his or her family, including a spouse, a divorced spouse, children, and disabled children, can also collect benefits.