The Social Security Administration (SSA) has confirmed the last Social Security payment for this month will be delivered soon. In a few hours, Social Security beneficiaries who were born between the 21st and 31st will receive their monthly benefits. After payments are completed, the Social Security payment schedule will resume on the 1st of April.
Social Security is perhaps one of the most important programs ever built in the United States, and some Americans have taken it for granted. Social Security has reduced poverty among Americans over 65 to 10%, which is lower than the general population rate of 12%. This program is the principal source of income for millions of elderly people, indirectly benefiting their children and giving long-term disability and survivor payments to dependents.
Social Security benefits between equity and adequacy
According to Paul Starr, Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University, Social Security is similar in appearance to regular company pension plans in that it provides monthly benefits to retirees who pay into the system during their working years. However, the distinctions are essential. The foundation of Social Security benefits is the balancing of two principles: equity and adequacy. In other words, workers who pay more into the system and obtain greater compensation do so because equity dictates that what you put in is related to what you get out.
However, the Social Security benefit formula, which replaces a larger percentage of earnings for the poor than for the rich, ignores years of low earnings (for instance, when a worker may have been disabled or jobless), following the principle of adequacy. It is our most effective anti-poverty policy because of this. Furthermore, Social Security benefits are safeguarded from inflation and the fluctuations of the financial markets and economy, which provides middle-class security.
Impact of privatization on the Social Security payment
As low-wage workers would find it difficult to maintain a respectable quality of living in retirement, privatization would remove the assurance of adequate income for the elderly. When they grew older, even middle-class laborers would experience more poverty. Additionally, financial markets produce uneven returns, and individuals who lose out might not have enough money coming in from other sources to survive.
Retirement savings may outlive investment portfolios during market downturns, but it is more probable for people who live into their 80s or 90s to outlive their accounts or have their annuities diminished by inflation. Therefore, Americans need to understand that Social Security shields recipients from a range of hazards, ensuring them a minimal level of income in old age and allowing those who have suffered throughout their lives to look forward to a respectable level of comfort and dignity upon retirement. Removing that would be a crime against them.
Social Security payment schedule for April
The Social Security Administration (SSA) oversees different financial aid programs, including the retirement program, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSD), and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Here is how the SSA will deliver the next payments in April:
- Monday (April 1st): SSI recipients
- Wednesday (April 3rd): Retired workers who claimed the Social Security payment before May 1997
- 2nd Wednesday (April 10th): Beneficiaries born between the 1st and the 10th
- 3rd Wednesday (April 17th): Beneficiaries born between the 11th and the 20th
- 4th Wednesday (April 24th): Beneficiaries born between the 21st and the 31st
If your Social Security payment has not arrived on the scheduled date, please wait at least 3 mailing days before contacting the Social Security Administration (SSA). Check the Schedule of Social Security Benefit Payments 2024 for further details.
Social Security payment: How much will beneficiaries receive in April?
Social Security program | Social Security payment |
Retirement payments | On average: $1,900
Age 62: $2,710 Age 67: $3,822 Age 70: $4,873 |
Survivor payments | On average: $1,505
Individual: $1,773 2 Children: $3,653 |
SSDI payments | On average: $1,537
Blind recipients: $2,590 Maximum payment: $3,822 |
SSI payments | Individual: $943
Couples: $1,415 Essential person: $472 |