SSI is a cash assistance payment to the disabled, blind, or elderly (65 or over) who have limited resources and have not worked long enough and not “paid enough into the system” to receive SSDI.
A person eligible for SSI does not have to have a work history.
SSI is need-based, income and resources tested. A person applying must have limited income and resources. For 2011, unearned income for an individual could not exceed $674/month and resources could not exceed $2,000.