The United States requires that every citizen hold a Social Security number or SSN.  This is a 9 digit number that shows you are a citizen, permanent resident or temporary resident.  The number is issued by the Social Security Administration of the government.  The main purpose of the Social Security Number is to track individuals for taxation purposes. 

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The first Social Security Numbers were issued in November of 1936.  They were developed as a part of the New Deal Social Security program and by the end of 1937, 37 million numbers were issued.  Before 1986, you did not have to have a Social Security Number until you turned 14.  This is due to the fact that children under 14 were not generally generating a substantial amount of income.  However, in 1986, the American Taxation Law was changed and all children over 5 years old are required to have a Social Security Number in order to be claimed as dependents on tax returns.  Because of this, most parents obtain Social Security Numbers for their children soon after they are born.

The Social Security Number has since become used for a variety of records and accounts.  The original purpose of the number was to track an individual’s account within the Social Security program.  Since, the number has become a unique identifier for people; however, duplicate numbers do exist.  Other records that often contain Social Security Numbers include:

• Employee records
• Patient records
• Student records
• Credit records.

Up until 1967, Social Security Numbers were used to identify all U.S. Military Service Members. 

There is no technical law that requires a natural born US citizen to obtain a Social Security Number, but it has become very difficult to do anything without one.  You need one to apply for college, loans, jobs and a variety of other financial activities.  If you have a job and you file taxes, then you must provide a Federal Taxpayer Identification Number or Social Security Number. 

There are three different types of Social Security Cards as well.  The most common contains only the cardholder’s name and number.  These are issued to individuals who are U.S. Citizens or U.S. permanent residents.  The other two types of cards are restricted and read:

• “NOT VALID FOR EMPLOYMENT” – These cards cannot be used as proof work authorization.  They are also not acceptable List C documents for I-9 forms.
• “VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION” – These are cards are issued to people who are authorized to work in the U.S. They will satisfy I-9 requirements.

The Social Security Card’s nine-digit format plays an important role.  The first three numbers are assigned to a geographical region.  Before 1972, this number indicated the office code in which the card was issued.  It did not necessarily match the location of where the person lived at the time.  The second set of numbers is a group number that has no special significance.  The third set of four digits are straight numerical sequences of digits ranging from 0001-9999.

With a Social Security Number you may be able to gather valuable information on individuals and, in particular, information on family members from the past.  A Social Security Number search is also a great way to compare numbers on documents and to match an individual’s name to their number to ensure that you are researching the right person.