In March 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt outlined his New Deal, one of his many programs to help Americans recover from the Great Depression. When he gave his package of programs to Congress so they could vote on each one, the program that was of most interest to Americans was the Social Security program. It seemed like the answer to so many problems, now and in the future.
After nearly two years of discussion and voting, Congress voted to pass the Social Security Act in August 1935. It was put into use on January 1, 1936.
Social Security was Roosevelt's vision and although the way it is used and its benefits has expanded over the nearly 100 years of its existence, the core principles remain the same.
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| In 1935, Roosevelt outlined one of his programs for Americans. |
This plan became law at a time when the economy had tanked, when homelessness was high, bread lines were long, and people could barely afford the bare essentials.
To drum up public support, advertising campaigns ran for months in every newspaper around the country starting in 1933 long before Congress passed the Social Security Act. Here are some of the posters used in the ads.
Some workers complained how much tax was deducted from their paycheck for Social Security when they needed their money to support themselves and their families.
The concept was explained that the tax deducted from the paycheck of today's workers was used to pay a monthly check to those presently on Social Security, and that the tax deducted from the paycheck of tomorrow's workers will be used to pay their own Social Security checks.
In the years since 1936, the tax has increased considerably but at the same time, the program has also been expanded to pay out a lot more than what was originally intended - spousal, blind, disabled, dependent children, etc.
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| Social Security Tax is deducted from wages |
The glimmer of an idea of "identity theft" might have been in the back of the government's mind when they said to guard your Social Security number. At the very least, they never fathomed the extent of identity theft that we have seen since the 1980s.
From the date of its inception, the public was warned to keep this number safe and to not share it with anyone. But that didn't stop institutions from asking for it in order to identify you.
You should always know why someone wants your Social Security number and know who they are before you provide it to them.
Your wages are tracked by the Social Security number you provided to your employer. You should only have ONE number because that is the one used to tabulate how much you will collect in benefits when you reach retirement age.
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| Social Security promised a death benefit |
Identification Using Your Number
Although the card specifically states it should not be used for identification purposes, it is the one number most requested to identify you in many venues - by employers to report wages, death, bank accounts, driver's license, retirement plans, credit cards, credit score companies, mortgage lenders, courts, filing income tax, health insurance plans and even your doctor and pharmacy. If you are in someone's computer or database, you can be sure your Social Security number is one of the identifiers.
Nowadays, most places don't require you to provide your full number. They only ask for the last four numbers.
Your individual Social Security number tells a lot of information about you.
The First Three Numbers
The first three numbers are area numbers pertaining to the state you lived or were born in when your card was issued. A number is assigned to each state. If they have many employees, then more than one area number is assigned. f
When out-of-state people applied for a Social Security cards at any Social Security office, that office would use the first three numbers of their area on each card.
For States in the northeast part of the country, the government issued the lowest area numbers, and States in the southwest part of the country were issued the highest area numbers.
After 1972, zip codes began to be used as identifiers. Baltimore became the central zone in charge of issuing all Social Security numbers. The area number corresponded to the zip code of the location where the application was filed.
Now it is random. After 2011, the area numbers stopped being used, and the first three numbers are assigned totally at random.
The Two Middle Numbers
The two middle numbers are group numbers. The odd numbers from 01 up to 09 were assigned first, followed by even numbers between 10 and 98, then even numbers between 02 and 08, and lastly by odd numbers from 11 to 99.
This group indicated a person's age whose Social Security numbers were assigned in the same batch as yours. So if your group number is 96, an even number, then you are older than anyone with an odd number higher than 11. Or if your group number is 17, then most people in your group are older than you.
The Last Four Numbers
The last four numbers are serial numbers assigned in ascending order from 0001 to 9999. None of them are made up of only zeros, there is always a finite number in the group of four digits.
Identity Theft
Both public and private sector rely heavily on Social Security numbers for identification purposes, to manage their records, verify benefits and eligibility of benefits, collect debt, etc.
It is the worst "best kept secret."
Unfortunately in many instances, Social Security numbers have been made public record so that anyone can see them - and steal them - which makes Social Security numbers as the primary source of identity theft. Once someone has the number that was assigned to you, they can essentially become you. Criminals have deprived victims of getting jobs, being approved for loans, and having access to their bank funds.
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