As a new month gets underway, a fresh batch of Social Security payments will be made to benefit claimants across the country.
Social Security provides income for retired individuals aged over 65, qualifying people with disabilities and survivors of deceased claimants. Available for an estimated 68 million people across the U.S. in 2024, payments administered by the Social Security Agency (SSA) made up a considerable amount of income for those who claim, whatever their reason.
Funded through taxes placed on U.S. workers, the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) schemes provide income for those who may otherwise struggle to get by. The majority of those who claim benefits from the SSA are retirees, accounting for 77.8 percent of those paid in 2023.
Not every claimant gets the same amount, and not everyone is paid on the same date. The amount of OASDI you receive is based on a number of factors, including how much you've worked and paid taxes throughout your life, your disability status or that of a family member, and the earnings of a current or former spouse if applicable.
Those who are eligible for SSI must be either aged 65 or older or have a disability or be blind as well as having little to no income and resources.
When Will My Benefits Be Paid In March?
March 1
All SSI payments will be made on March 1 this month, as well as Social Security payments for those who have been claiming since before May 1997. The March 1 payment date also applies to those who claim Social Security but live abroad.
For those that receive SSI and Social Security benefits, payments will be made on March 1 and 3 respectively.
March 13
Those with birthdays that fall between the first and 10th of their birth month will receive their payment on Wednesday, March 13.
March 20
Those claimants who have a birthday between 11th and 20th will receive their monthly amount on March 20.
March 27
Anyone born between the 21st and 31st of any month will have their benefits paid on March 27.
Those who do not receive benefits on their allocated date should wait three mailing days before contacting the SSA.
Changes are likely to be on the way for those who get Social Security benefits. The SSA has proposed that payroll data from employers be exchanged with the agency in an effort to reduce the amount of incorrect payments sent to claimants. It comes after the SSA has faced considerable backlash in recent months as some claimants have been asked to pay back benefit amounts sent to them in error.
"Social Security is taking a critically important step to reduce improper payments, including overpayments, by ensuring we receive timely and accurate wage data. These automated payroll information exchanges will address the inefficiencies associated with self-reporting and manual verification by introducing a more streamlined approach," Martin O'Malley, Commissioner of Social Security, said in a statement issued on February 15.
An SSA spokesperson told Newsweek: "PIE will help reduce manual reporting errors as well as the reporting burden for individuals who authorize Social Security to obtain their wage and employment information through these information exchanges and work for employers whose payroll data is available through the exchange. PIE will also help to more quickly identify wages that often go unreported or undetected and which can lead to improper payments."
Uncommon Knowledge
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