Social Security is an integral cog in the machine that keeps the nation running. These monthly checks that millions of Americans are reliant on is funded primarily from payroll taxes and then redistributed to those in need, including retirees, survivors, and disabled individuals.
Social Security payments are organized and distributed by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the schedule of payment dates is usually released at the beginning of the year so that beneficiaries may plan out the budgets accordingly. Payments go out every Wednesday throughout the month depending on the birthdate of the recipient.
Social Security payments for May: what to know
Social Security payments for the month of May will begin going out from Thursday, the first. However it is not the standard payment that is going out on the first, rather it is the Supplemental Social Income (SSI).
Supplemental Social Income is an additional monthly payment that certain beneficiaries of Social Security may qualify for. Individuals eligible for SSI include those with little to no income or resources, as well as older adults or those with disabilities.
According to the official SSA website, adults or children who qualify for SSI would have:
- Little or no income, and
- Little or no resources, and
- A disability, blindness, or are age 65 or older.
As such, any American citizen who meets the abovementioned criteria will be receiving their SSI check on Thursday, May 1.
However, it is important to note that if a beneficiary is a recipient of both Social Security and SSI, the payments for Social Security will be made on the 1st and the payment for SSI will go out on the 3rd as per the official schedule of the SSA. To highlight this slight difference in payment dates, the SSA has blocked off the 2nd of May for recipients of both Social Security and SSI.
Furthermore, these two payment dates will also apply to beneficiaries who have been receiving Social Security before May of 1997.
“If you received Social Security before May 1997 or if receiving both Social Security & SSI, Social Security is paid on the 3rd and SSI on the 1st,” as per the SSA.
The SSA has also further noted that a minor delay in payments in possible and has stated that, “If you don’t receive your payment on the expected date, please allow three additional mailing days before contacting Social Security.”
The standard Social Security payments will continue to go out every Wednesday for the remainder of the month, beginning on the 14th. Additionally, the SSI payment for June will also go out this month, on May 30 meaning that some recipients may receive three checks this month.
Previous Commissioner warns SSA collapse is imminent
Martin O’Malley, Social Security Commissioner under the Biden Administration, has been showing severe concern that the SSA has delved into chaos since the nation’s change in leadership and beneficiaries might see an interruption in their payments “within the next 30 to 90 days.”
O’Malley is citing the introduction of DOGE as the driving force behind the dismantlement of the SSA. Since the introduction of DOGE within the SSA, the agency has downsized its workforce which has led to a decline in service delivery that is already being noticed by the people.
Whilst DOGE has positioned itself as an organization that is dedicated to improve citizen service, many others are in agreement with O’Malley’s stance.
“They are dismantling the system from the inside. Trump and Elon are destroying Social Security to benefit themselves. And the ones who will pay the price are retirees,” Democratic Senator Patty Murray harshly criticized.
These newer politics are just the tip of the iceberg of issues faced by the SSA according to O’Malley who has described the state of the SSA as, “1950s technology, based on COBOL, a programming language so outdated that they have had to rehire retired employees just to keep it running. With fewer staff and outdated systems, collapse is not only possible. It is almost inevitable.”