Social Security Childhood Disability Benefits: Proposals in the 118th Congress: In Brief

Social Security Childhood Disability Benefits:

Proposals in the 118th Congress: In Brief

January 3, 2025

Congressional Research Service

https://crsreports.congress.gov

R48321

Childhood Disability Benefits: Proposals in the 118th Congress

Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1

Social Security Overview ................................................................................................................ 1

Childhood Disability Benefits Overview ........................................................................................ 1

Qualifying for Childhood Disability Benefits ................................................................................. 2

Disability Requirements to Qualify for Childhood Disability Benefits .................................... 3

Other Requirements to Qualify for Childhood Disability Benefits ........................................... 4

Individual’s Parent Must Be Receiving Social Security or Deceased................................. 4

Individual Must Be Unmarried Unless an Exception Applies ............................................ 5

Selected Proposals in the 118th Congress ........................................................................................ 6

Contacts

Author Information.......................................................................................................................... 8

Childhood Disability Benefits: Proposals in the 118th Congress

Introduction

During the 118th Congress, Members of Congress introduced legislation that would have changed

certain eligibility criteria for childhood disability benefits—a type of Social Security benefit

available to adults age 18 or older with qualifying disabilities that began before they turned age

22.

This In Brief first provides an overview of Social Security and childhood disability benefits. It

then explains the current eligibility criteria to receive childhood disability benefits. Finally, it

discusses proposals introduced during the 118th Congress that would have changed certain

eligibility criteria for childhood disability benefits.

Social Security Overview

Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI)—commonly referred to as Social

Security—is a federal social insurance program that provides monthly cash benefits to insured

workers and their eligible family members in the event of the worker’s retirement, disability, or

death. Eligible family members generally include insured workers’ spouses, children, parents, and

widow(er)s. Social Security benefits are intended to replace a portion of the earnings lost to a

family when a worker retires, dies, or experiences a work-limiting disability. Workers become

insured for Social Security by working for a sufficient period in jobs that are covered by Social

Security and subject to its payroll tax. An insured worker’s monthly Social Security benefit

amount is based on the worker’s career-average earnings in covered jobs. Benefits are financed

primarily by dedicated payroll taxes paid by covered workers and their employers. Social

Security benefits are administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA).1

Childhood Disability Benefits Overview

Adults age 18 or older with qualifying disabilities that began before they turned age 22 may be

able to receive a type of Social Security family benefit called childhood disability benefits if they

meet certain criteria.2 An individual qualifies for childhood disability benefits—which are

sometimes also called disabled adult child (DAC) benefits—based on the work record of a parent

who is receiving Social Security retirement or disability benefits or who is deceased and met

minimum insured status requirements under Social Security at the time of death. An individual’s

childhood disability benefit amount equals a certain share of the parent’s Social Security monthly

benefit (generally up to 50%-75% of the insured parent’s basic benefit), subject to a maximum

amount of benefits that can be paid on one worker’s record (i.e., a family maximum). Unlike most

other people who receive Social Security disability benefits, childhood disability beneficiaries do

1 For more information on Social Security, see CRS Report R42035, Social Security Primer.

2 Social Security does not provide disability benefits to children under age 18. Children with qualifying disabilities may

be able to receive cash payments (and Medicaid) under a separate disability program administered by SSA, called

Supplemental Security Income (SSI), if they meet the program’s income, resource, and other eligibility rules. For more

information on SSI, see CRS In Focus IF10482, Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Social Security child’s benefits

are also available to eligible children who are under age 18 or under age 19 and full-time students (grade 12 or below)

regardless of disability status. As with childhood disability benefits, children qualify for these other types of Social

Security child’s benefits based on the work records of their parents who are receiving Social Security or are deceased.

For more information on Social Security child’s benefits, see CRS In Focus IF12069, Social Security: How Do

Children Qualify for Benefits?

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Childhood Disability Benefits: Proposals in the 118th Congress

not have to serve a five-month waiting period before receiving benefits.3 Like most other Social

Security disability beneficiaries, childhood disability beneficiaries generally receive Medicare

coverage after a 24-month waiting period.4

In December 2023, about 1.1 million people—or about 1.7% of all Social Security

beneficiaries—received childhood disability benefits averaging about $1,035 per month per

beneficiary.5 Of those, about 30.5% were children of retired workers, 60.2% were children of

deceased workers, and about 9.2% were children of disabled workers.6

Childhood disability benefits for children of insured workers who retire or die were enacted in the

Social Security Amendments of 1956 (P.L. 84-880) and later for children of insured workers with

qualifying disabilities in the Social Security Amendments of 1958 (P.L. 85-840). At that time,

childhood disability benefits were available to individuals age 18 or older whose qualifying

disabilities began before they turned age 18. In explaining the rationale for creating childhood

disability benefits, a Senate report stated that children who experience qualifying disabilities

before they turn age 18 (i.e., during childhood) are as dependent on their parents for their

financial support after attaining age 18 as they were before turning age 18.7 Congress required

individuals applying for or receiving childhood disability benefits to meet many of the same basic

eligibility criteria that apply to other types of Social Security benefits for children, such as the

requirement that they be unmarried.

Congress later raised the age before which an individual’s qualifying disability must have started

to age 22 in the Social Security Amendments of 1972 (P.L. 92-603). In explaining the rationale

for raising the disability onset age limit, a Senate report stated that children who experience

qualifying disabilities before they turn age 22 (including from ages 18 through 21) are generally

dependent on their parents for their financial support in adulthood.8

Qualifying for Childhood Disability Benefits

To qualify for childhood disability benefits, individuals need to meet both disability-related and

non-disability-related requirements in law. Under Section 202(d) of the Social Security Act, the

unmarried children of insured workers can qualify for childhood disability benefits if they are age

18 or older and have been continuously under disabilities—as defined in Section 223(d) of the

3 SSA, Program Operations Manual System (POMS), “DI 10115.001 Requirements for Entitlement to Childhood

Disability Benefits (CDB),” September 4, 2014, https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0410115001. Individuals approved

for Social Security disability benefits after July 23, 2020, on the basis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou

Gehrig’s disease) are also exempt from the five-month waiting period. For more information on exceptions to the fivemonth waiting period, see SSA, Office of the Inspector General, Disability Waiting Period Exclusions, September

2024, https://oig.ssa.gov/assets/uploads/072304.pdf.

4 Individuals who are age 18 or older and qualify for childhood disability benefits on the basis of ALS receive Medicare

coverage without any waiting period. Individuals who qualify for childhood disability benefits on the basis of end-stage

renal disease (ESRD) usually receive Medicare coverage on the first day of the fourth month of dialysis treatments. For

more information on Medicare, see CRS In Focus IF10885, Medicare Overview. For more information on ESRD, see

CRS Report R45290, Medicare Coverage of End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD).

5 SSA, Annual Statistical Supplement, 2024, Tables 5.A1 and 5.A1.4, December 2024, https://www.ssa.gov/policy/

docs/statcomps/supplement/2024/.

6 SSA, Annual Statistical Report on the Social Security Disability Insurance Program, 2023, October 2024, Table 1,

https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/di_asr/2023/.

7 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Finance, Social Security Amendments of 1956, 84th Cong., 2nd sess., June 5,

1956, S.Rept. 84-2133, p. 2, https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Rpt84-2133.pdf.

8 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Finance, Social Security Amendments of 1972, 92nd Cong., 2nd sess., September

26, 1972, S.Rept. 92-1230, p. 138, https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Rpt92-1230.pdf.

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Childhood Disability Benefits: Proposals in the 118th Congress

Social Security Act—that started before they turned age 22.9 The following two subsections detail

the disability and other requirements needed to qualify for childhood disability benefits.

Disability Requirements to Qualify for Childhood Disability

Benefits

In order for an individual age 18 or older to meet the disability requirements to qualify for

childhood disability benefits, SSA would need to determine that the individual has a qualifying

disability that began before he or she turned age 22.

The definition of disability under Social Security generally requires an individual to have a severe

impairment that has lasted for a sufficient period and that prevents the individual from doing

certain work. Specifically, Section 223(d) of the Social Security Act defines disability as the

inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity (SGA) due to any medically determinable

physical or mental impairment that has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of

at least 12 months or is expected to result in death. In general, individuals must have severe

impairments that prevent them from doing any substantial work that exists in significant numbers

in the national economy, taking into consideration their age, education, and work experience. The

work need not exist in the immediate area in which the individual lives, nor must a specific job

vacancy exist for the individual.10 SSA uses a monthly earnings limit to determine if a person’s

work activity represents SGA, which for most individuals is $1,620 per month in 2025.11 An

individual who works and earns above the monthly limit is generally considered able to engage in

SGA and so found not to have a qualifying disability for the purposes of Social Security.12

For an individual to initially qualify for childhood disability benefits under current law, SSA

specifies that he or she must be continuously under a disability that began before age 22.13 SSA

determines that an individual has not been continuously under a disability that began before age

22 if he or she has worked above the SGA level after age 22 and has never previously been a

childhood disability beneficiary—for example, because the individual’s parents have not yet

reached the minimum age to claim Social Security retirement benefits.14 These individuals are

unable to initially qualify for childhood disability benefits, even if their insured parents later

begin receiving Social Security benefits (or die).

Different rules about work apply to individuals already receiving childhood disability benefits.

The Social Security Act allows individuals who are already receiving childhood disability

benefits to do some time-limited work above the SGA earnings limit without losing their

eligibility for benefits. These special work rules for disability beneficiaries are often referred to as

9 Social Security Act, §§202(d) and 223(d) (42 U.S.C. §§402(d) and 423(d)).

10 Social Security Act, §223(d) (42 U.S.C. §423(d)).

SSA, “Substantial Gainful Activity,” https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/sga.html. The SGA earnings limit for blind

individuals under Social Security is $2,700 per month in 2025.

12 This is the same definition of disability used for adults in the SSI program. See Social Security Act, §1614(a)(3) (42

U.S.C. §1382c(a)(3)).

13 SSA, “SSR 80-4c: Section 202(d)(1)(B)(ii) (42 U.S.C. 402(d)(1)(B)(ii)) Childhood Disability Benefits—

Requirements for Entitlement—Onset of Disability Prior to Age 22,” https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/rulings/oasi/09/

SSR80-04-oasi-09.html.

14 SSA, POMS, “DI 10115.022 Work Activity and Childhood Disability Benefit (CDB) Entitlement,” June 11, 2008,

https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0410115022; and SSA, POMS, “DI 11020.050 Field Office (FO) Technical Denials

of Childhood Disability Benefits (CDB) Including Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) and Other Technical Denials,”

November 7, 2013, https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0411020050.

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Childhood Disability Benefits: Proposals in the 118th Congress

“work incentives.”15 After using available work incentives, an individual whose eligibility for

childhood disability benefits ends because of work activity can later qualify for childhood

disability benefits again on the same parent’s work record if SSA finds that the individual has a

qualifying disability again and meets all other eligibility rules. These former childhood disability

beneficiaries can reestablish their eligibility for childhood disability benefits again regardless of

how much time has passed since their benefits last ended (i.e., there is no time limit to reestablish

eligibility).16

Other Requirements to Qualify for Childhood Disability Benefits

In addition to meeting the disability requirements, individuals must also meet non-disability

requirements specified in law to qualify for childhood disability benefits.17 Specifically, adults

age 18 or older with qualifying disabilities that began before they turned age 22 must also:

•

•

be the children of workers who are receiving Social Security retirement or

disability benefits or workers who are deceased and met minimum insured status

requirements under Social Security at the time of their deaths,18 and

be unmarried (with some exceptions).19

Each of these requirements is discussed in more detail in the following subsections.

Individual’s Parent Must Be Receiving Social Security or Deceased

To qualify for childhood disability benefits, individuals must be the children of workers who are

receiving Social Security retirement or disability benefits on their own work records or workers

who are deceased and met minimum insured status requirements under Social Security at the time

of their deaths.20 As such, an individual’s eligibility for childhood disability benefits depends, in

part, on one parent meeting Social Security eligibility rules.21

15 For more information on work incentives, see SSA, The Red Book, https://www.ssa.gov/redbook/.

16 Social Security Act, §202(d)(6)(B) (42 U.S.C. §402(d)(6)(B)). An individual whose eligibility for childhood

disability benefits ends because SSA finds that the disability has medically improved can become eligible for childhood

disability benefits again on the same parent’s work record if SSA finds that the individual is under a qualifying

disability again within seven years (i.e., 84 months) of when previous benefit entitlement ended and meets all other

eligibility criteria.

17 SSA, POMS, “DI 10115.001 Requirements for Entitlement to Childhood Disability Benefits (CDB),” September 4,

2014, https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0410115001.

18 The Social Security Act also requires an individual to be dependent on the parent (or other individual) on whose

record he or she qualifies. The dependency requirements vary based on the type of parent-child relationship and other

circumstances. SSA deems (i.e., presumes) certain individuals to be dependent on their parents. Otherwise, an

individual must prove to SSA that a dependency relationship exists. Depending on the type of worker-child

relationship, additional requirements may also apply. For more information, see SSA, POMS, “GN 00306.002 ParentChild Relationship Categories for Title II Benefits—Overview,” September 13, 2019, https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/

poms.nsf/lnx/0200306002.

19 An individual must have also filed an application for benefits.

20 Under the Social Security Act, children also include non-biological children of insured workers, such as certain

stepchildren and adopted children. In determining a child’s relationship to an insured worker, SSA generally looks to

the laws of the state (as interpreted by the courts of that state) in which the worker is domiciled at the time of

application or death. A child may qualify as an insured worker’s child for purposes of childhood disability benefits if

the child would inherit the worker’s personal property under state intestacy law or meets certain other criteria. See

Social Security Act, §216(e) and (h) (42 U.S.C. §416(e) and (h)).

21 In limited circumstances, a child may qualify on the work record of a grandparent who has not legally adopted the

child. See SSA, “Parents and Guardians,” https://www.ssa.gov/people/parents/.

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Workers generally become insured for Social Security by working for a sufficient period in jobs

covered by Social Security and subject to its payroll tax. To be insured for certain Social Security

benefits, a worker must have also performed this work recently enough for it to be counted.

Depending on the type of Social Security benefit, additional requirements also apply for insured

workers to receive benefits. For example, to receive Social Security retirement benefits, insured

workers must have reached a minimum claiming age (age 62), among other requirements. To

receive Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, insured workers must meet the definition of

disability in law, as well as other eligibility criteria.22

Individuals who are otherwise eligible for childhood disability benefits but whose parents are not

receiving Social Security benefits—for example, because their parents have not yet reached the

minimum age to claim Social Security retirement benefits—cannot qualify for childhood

disability benefits until one of their parents begins receiving Social Security or dies meeting the

minimum Social Security insured status requirements (and the individual meets all other

eligibility requirements). This means that two otherwise eligible individuals who are the same age

and have the same disabilities, disability onset dates, and past work activity may become first

eligible to receive childhood disability benefits at different times, depending on when their

insured parents begin receiving Social Security benefits or die.

Individual Must Be Unmarried Unless an Exception Applies

Current law also generally requires individuals to be unmarried to receive childhood disability

benefits. Specifically, child applicants must be unmarried to initially qualify for childhood

disability benefits,23 and those already receiving childhood disability benefits generally have their

benefits terminated if they marry.24 As noted earlier, Social Security provides benefits to the

eligible children of insured workers because such children are generally presumed to be

dependent on their parents for their financial support. The program considers this presumption no

longer valid when a child marries based on the idea that married individuals are less likely to be

financially dependent on their parents.25 In 2023, more than 1,800 individuals had their childhood

disability benefits terminated due to marriage.26

The Social Security Act provides an exception to the “unmarried requirement” that allows current

childhood disability beneficiaries to marry most other adult Social Security beneficiaries and

remain eligible for childhood disability benefits.27 The types of adult Social Security beneficiaries

covered by this exception include workers receiving retirement or disability benefits and

22 For more information on insured status and the requirements needed to qualify for different Social Security benefits,

see CRS Report R42035, Social Security Primer; CRS Report RS22294, Social Security Survivors Benefits; and CRS

Report R44948, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI): Eligibility,

Benefits, and Financing.

23 Social Security Act, §202(d)(1)(B) (42 U.S.C. §402(d)(1)(B)).

24 Social Security Act, §202(d)(1)(D) (42 U.S.C. §402(d)(1)(D)).

25 SSA, “SSR 78-10c: Sections 202(d)(1)(D) and 202(d)(5) (42 U.S.C. 402(d)(1)(D) and 402(d)(5)) Child’s Insurance

Benefits—Termination—Marriage of Disabled Child to a Non-Beneficiary—Constitutionality,” https://www.ssa.gov/

OP_Home/rulings/oasi/09/SSR78-10-oasi-09.html. When a child marries, the spouse is assumed to have an obligation

to financially support the child. This new dependency relationship created by the marriage is presumed to reduce or

terminate the dependency relationship between the child and the parent. See U.S. Congress, House Committee on Ways

and Means, Subcommittee on Oversight, Review of Social Security Student Benefit Program, 96th Cong., 1st sess.,

February 8, 1979, H.Hrg. 96-3 (Washington: GPO, 1979), p. 77, https://books.google.com/books?id=

AqH6gwJSn2oC&pg=PA77.

26 SSA, Annual Statistical Supplement, 2024, Table 6.F3. See also SSA, Annual Statistical Report on the Social

Security Disability Insurance Program, 2023, Table 50.

27 Social Security Act, §202(d)(5) and (s)(2).

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individuals receiving Social Security family benefits, such as other childhood disability

beneficiaries. This exception does not apply to marriages to child or student Social Security

beneficiaries or to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients who are not concurrently

receiving an excepted type of Social Security benefit.28 Individuals receiving childhood disability

benefits lose eligibility for such benefits if they marry and an exception does not apply.

An applicant’s previous marriage may also affect the ability to qualify for childhood disability

benefits. To initially qualify on a parent’s work record, an applicant who had been married is

considered unmarried—and thus potentially eligible for childhood disability benefits—if the

previous marriage was terminated by annulment, divorce, or death or if it was found to be void

under state law.29 However, to subsequently qualify on the same parent’s work record after having

been previously terminated from childhood disability benefits, an applicant who had been married

is considered unmarried only if the previous marriage was void or annulled.30 As such, a marriage

that ended by death or divorce precludes a previously married applicant from reestablishing

eligibility for childhood disability benefits on the same parent’s work record.31 A previously

married applicant who is unable to reestablish eligibility for childhood disability benefits on the

same parent’s work record may be able to qualify for such benefits on the other parent’s work

record if the applicant meets all other eligibility criteria.

Selected Proposals in the 118th Congress

Three bills were introduced during the 118th Congress that proposed to change some of the

statutory provisions governing Social Security childhood disability benefits.32 All of these bills

would have allowed more individuals to establish or maintain their eligibility for childhood

disability benefits but differed in terms of the specific eligibility criteria that would have been

changed. For example, the Marriage Equality for Disabled Adults Act (H.R. 6640) would have

changed how marriage is considered when determining eligibility for childhood disability

benefits, the Work Without Worry Act (S. 2196) would have changed how certain work is

considered when determining the onset of disability, and the Fairness for Disabled Young Adults

Act (S. 4555) would have changed the age before which an individual would need to be under a

disability to qualify for childhood disability benefits from age 22 to age 26. The remainder of this

section discusses these three bills in more detail.

28 SSA, POMS, “RS 00203.035 Child’s Benefits Termination of Entitlement,” January 3, 2024, https://secure.ssa.gov/

poms.nsf/lnx/0300203035; and SSA, POMS, “DI 10115.050 Termination of Childhood Disability Benefit (CDB)

Entitlement,” January 14, 2010, https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0410115050.

29

SSA, POMS, “RS 00203.020 When a Child Who Has Been Married May Be Considered ‘Unmarried,’” September 9,

2011, https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0300203020.

30 Social Security Act, §202(d)(6) (42 U.S.C. §402(d)(6)) and SSA, “SSR 79-29c: Section 202(d)(6) (42 U.S.C.

402(d)(6)) Child’s Insurance Benefits—Reentitlement—Marriage as a Bar to Reentitlement—Constitutionality,”

https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/rulings/oasi/09/SSR79-29-oasi-09.html.

31 SSA, POMS, “RS 00203.015 Requirements for Re-entitlement to Child’s Benefits,” September 7, 2023,

https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0300203015.

32 This report does not examine bills or amendments introduced during the 118th Congress that would have changed

Social Security provisions affecting multiple types of Social Security beneficiaries, one of which is childhood disability

beneficiaries (e.g., bills to change the method for calculating cost-of-living adjustments for all Social Security

beneficiaries).

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Among other changes to current law, H.R. 6640, the Marriage Equality for Disabled Adults Act,

would have removed the requirement that individuals be unmarried to initially qualify for

childhood disability benefits. The proposal would have also removed marriage as a benefitterminating event for individuals already receiving childhood disability benefits. In 2022, SSA’s

Office of the Chief Actuary (OCACT) estimated the cost of similar provisions in a previous

version of the bill introduced during the 117th Congress. OCACT estimated that, if enacted, those

provisions would have slightly worsened the long-range financial position of the OASDI

program, though they would not have changed the projected reserve depletion year of the

combined OASDI trust funds.33 OCACT also estimated that these provisions would have

decreased federal SSI payments by $7 billion over the 10-year period from 2022 through 2031.34

S. 2196, the Work Without Worry Act, would have allowed individuals to initially qualify for

childhood disability benefits based on disabilities that began before age 22 even if they have

worked above the SGA level after turning 22. Under the proposal, individuals would still have

been required to have impairments that began before age 22, but work performed after age 22 and

before they filed for childhood disability benefits would not be considered when determining

eligibility for childhood disability benefits. In other words, the proposal would have removed the

requirement that an individual be continuously under a disability that began before age 22 until

the time he or she applies for childhood disability benefits. When individuals apply for childhood

disability benefits, they would have still needed to be unable to work above the SGA earnings

level to establish that they are currently disabled, as is required under current law. The proposal

would have allowed individuals who have never been previously eligible for childhood disability

benefits to work above the SGA earnings limit after turning age 22 without that work preventing

them from becoming eligible for childhood disability benefits in the future if, for example, one of

their insured parents later claims Social Security benefits (retirement or disability) or dies.

OCACT estimated that enacting the bill would have increased the number of individuals entitled

to childhood disability benefits by about 7,000 and OASDI program costs by $390 million over

the 10-year period from 2023 through 2032, but it would have had “no significant effect” on the

program’s long-range financial status.35

S. 4555, the Fairness for Disabled Young Adults Act, would have changed the disability onset age

criteria for qualifying for childhood disability benefits. Specifically, the bill would have raised the

age before which individuals must have become disabled to qualify for childhood disability

benefits from age 22 to age 26. This change would have allowed individuals whose qualifying

33 Stephen C. Goss, chief actuary, SSA, letter to the Hon. Jimmy Panetta, U.S. House of Representatives, March 9,

2022, https://www.ssa.gov/oact/solvency/JPanetta_20220309.pdf. OCACT estimated that the provisions were projected

to increase (i.e., worsen) the program’s long-term funding shortfall by less than 1%. OCACT’s estimate was based on

the intermediate assumptions of the 2021 trustees’ report. For the previous version of the bill introduced during the

117th Congress, see H.R. 6405. For more information on the Social Security trust funds, see CRS Report RL33028,

Social Security: The Trust Funds.

34 Goss, letter to Panetta. OCACT’s estimate was based on the assumptions of the 2021 SSI annual report. The SSI cost

estimates presented here reflect only the provisions of the proposed bill concerning the requirements governing

childhood disability beneficiaries (i.e., Section 2 of H.R. 6405). They do not reflect other provisions of the bill that

would change SSI program requirements and Medicaid requirements. OCACT estimated that on the whole, the bill

“would reduce Federal SSI payments from the General Fund of the Treasury by an estimated $6 billion for the period

2022 through 2031.”

35 Stephen C. Goss, chief actuary, SSA, letter to the Hon. Ron Wyden, Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate, and the

Hon. Bill Cassidy, Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate, June 21, 2023, https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/solvency/

WydenCassidy_20230622.pdf. These estimates reflect the updated baseline of the 2023 trustees’ report’s intermediate

projections.

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disabilities began from ages 22 through 25 to potentially establish eligibility for childhood

disability benefits.36

Author Information

Emma K. Tatem

Analyst in Social Policy

William R. Morton

Analyst in Income Security

Disclaimer

This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan

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36 As of the date of this report, OCACT had not scored this bill.

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