I guess I should have said that parents were not required to get a Social Security number for their children in those days at birth. Many people didn’t get one until they needed it for tax purposes when they got their first job. I was born in the 1950’s and most of my friends and I went to the SSI office to apply for a Social Security Card when we wanted to get jobs. My husband and I both had to apply for our cards so we could get our first jobs. I don’t remember when the law changed to require one at birth, as by the time my children were born I was required to apply for their cards at the time of their birth. I am guessing that it was sometime in the later 1970’s or early 1980’s when the requirement went into effect.
I just did a search to see what I could find out about the issuance of SSI numbers for children. SSI numbers for children over 5 years of age were first required to be listed on their parent’s tax returns under the tax reform act of 1986.
In 1987 a project was started to issue Social Security numbers at the time birth certificates were ordered for a newborn.
In 1988 SSI numbers for children under 2 was required on a parent’s tax returns.
I guess the SSI numbers were gradually required at a younger age for tax purposes, probably so the IRS could make sure they were getting all the taxes on the child’s income from any trust accounts set up for the child.