[mdmathis6]

I was born in 1961 and there was no ssn issued for me then. I was born in upstate NY. I got my SSN in 1976 so I could start to work and do odd jobs. Perhaps the change in ssn issuance rules came later so that by the mid 60’s all children got them issued...perhaps as part of the “great society” welfare build up the FED’s were doing at the time.

[Jim from C-Town]

NO! At the time it was rare for kids to get a SS#. My parents asked for ours at birth. Now it is automatically apart of the packet that the hospital gives you when your child is born. Part of the paperwork they give you is for a birth certificate, and part of it is for a SS#. Up until it was required to have a SS# to receive a tax deduction for children on your 1040 it was normal not to get a SS# until you got a job.

Now you need one right away to get a tax break or credit on the 1040. Regardless, did you need a passport as a youth to travel in the sixties and seventies. Obama went to Kenya, lived in Indonesia. And if you needed a passport to travel as a youth, did you also need a SS# to get a passport? I am asking because I do not know.

[brytlea]

They changed the law in about the late 70s I think because my son who was born in 1979 got one when he was born (or got the form in the hospital) as I recall.

[brytlea]

Darn, and I meant to add that I don’t think I got a form for my son who was born in 1977, when he was born. I may misremember tho.