User:Stp001/sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The United States Social Security Administration (SSA)[2] 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.
![]() Official seal | |
Agency overview | |
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Formed | August 14, 1935 |
Jurisdiction | Federal government of the United States |
Headquarters | Woodlawn, Maryland |
Employees | 62,000 |
Annual budget | $657.3 billion (FY 2008)[1] |
Agency executives |
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Website | ssa.gov |
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Socialsecurityheadquarters.jpg/640px-Socialsecurityheadquarters.jpg)
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8d/Backsideofsocialsecurityadministrationheadquarters.jpg/640px-Backsideofsocialsecurityadministrationheadquarters.jpg)
The Social Security Administration was established by a law currently codified at 42 U.S.C. § 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[update], about 62,000 people were employed by the SSA. [3] Headquarters non-supervisory employees of the SSA are represented by AFGE Local 1923. Social Security is currently the largest social welfare program in the U.S., constituting 37% of government expenditure and 7% of GDP.[4]