The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability, and survivors' benefits. To qualify for these benefits, most American workers pay Social Security taxes on their earnings; future benefits are based on the employees' contributions.
The Social Security Administration was established by a law currently codified at 42 U.S.C. ยง 901. Its commissioner, Michael J. Astrue, was sworn in on February 12, 2007, for a six-year term.
SSA is headquartered in Woodlawn, Maryland, just to the west of Baltimore, at what is known as Central Office. The agency includes 10 regional offices, 8 processing centers, approximately 1300 field offices, and 37 Teleservice Centers. As of 2007, about 62,000 people were employed by the SSA. Headquarters non-supervisory employees of the SSA are represented by AFGE Local 1923. Social Security is currently the largest social welfare program in the United States, constituting 37% of government expenditure and 7% of GDP.
Read more about Social Security Administration: History, Headquarters, Coverage, Operations, Criticism and Controversy, Baby Name Popularity Report, Records
Famous quotes containing the words social and/or security:
“Pan had been amongst them—not the great god Pan, who has been buried these two thousand years, but the little god Pan, who presides over social contretemps and unsuccessful picnics.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“The contention that a standing army and navy is the best security of peace is about as logical as the claim that the most peaceful citizen is he who goes about heavily armed. The experience of every-day life fully proves that the armed individual is invariably anxious to try his strength. The same is historically true of governments. Really peaceful countries do not waste life and energy in war preparations, with the result that peace is maintained.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)