My guess is that lamination makes it more difficult to inspect the card for tampering. You could change a number, laminate it and it’d be harder to see if the ink smears or if the card is indented in that location or whatever.
Just a guess though.
Even laminated, my signature is gone.
I do have the number memorized. I memorized it waaaay back when…when I was 16 and applying for my driver’s license, they insisted I needed my social security number. At the time I didn’t know it, and we had to track my mom down. No cell phones in those days*! She didn’t know it either, so she had to go to the safety deposit box and get it out. It took a long time. So I memorized it after that. I have a good facility with numbers, and have a lot memorized: account numbers (savings and checkings), driver’s license number, soc., etc.
*How long before that is a sign of real old age?
Mine was (re-) issued sometime around 1994 and although I carry mine in my wallet, it’s in good shape. I can’t remember, however, the last time I needed to show it for anything.
In fact, the only thing involving my SS card I can recall is that a few years back a TSA agent at an airport gave me a raft of shit (and I’m not kidding, he was belligerant) over my SS card being visible to him when I showed him my licence as he had requested. Weird.
I put my card in my wallet when I first got it. That would be back in 1969 I think, when I was 13. Within a year it was a useless ball of lint. I’ve never ever needed it in all the years since then. Nobody has ever asked for the actual card.
I came very close to being turned away at a power plant I was doing some work at recently (I had to fly across country to get there) because I didn’t bring my SS card. I made the (incorrect) assumption that they need it for ID, so I brought my passport, which is much better ID. Turns out, they use the card to check to see if you are on some kind of blacklist, and will only accept the SS card. I managed to weasel out of it because I was working on our own equipment. This was the first time in 30+ years I’ve needed my card.
Mine is plastic, as I assume all Canadian SIN cards are (Social Insurance Number). I also memorized the number and keep the card in our lockbox.
I laminated my Alberta Healthcare card and keep it in my wallet. It’s in pristine shape. 
In landfills I think it should last about 50 years.
I’ve had my SS card since 1948 (yes, you whippersnappers, they had them back then!) and it is still in great shape. Always kept in a filing cabinet.
I get it out now and then mainly to read the line on it which says “Not to be used for identification purposes”.
Because it is easier to cover up an altered card if you laminate it. Using a very sharp X acto knife you can cut out letters or numbers and substitute new ones from another ID. Then, using a brush on the paper you can cover up the cut lines, laminate, and you have a forgery. This is why when your laminated driver license beings to come apart at the edges a cop may not give it back to you and tell you to get a new one. It is forgery prevention.
I re-entered the work force a few years ago after a 30 year job and thought I should get an updated SS card for job hunting. I thought there would be some kind of upgrade from the paper one I got 40 years ago. Nope, I got a new paper one with the same design that has apparently never been updated. Why are they still giving out cardboard SS cards? You would think that some kind of new version would be in place by now.
So now I have 2, the new one and the one I got when I was 16 years old, both identical. I keep them in a fire resistant safe with my other bug-out paperwork. And I **was **asked to show my physical SS card when I got hired at my new job.
A lot of people seem to be under the impression that you need your physical social security card whenever applying for any job. Some companies ask for it, some just require the number; we ask for just the number at my current company.
The last time I was asked by an employer to present my social security card was the only time I was asked for it, which was my very first job at McDonald’s over 30 years ago. I think I may have also used it when opening a bank account around the same time. I haven’t needed to present the actual card for anything else ever since.
I misplaced my social security card when I was in my 30s for a few years, but it turned up when I was unpacking after a move. Now I keep it in a secure location at home with my other personal documents, but I don’t anticipate ever needing it for anything in the future.
Like other’s stated, my social security card is laminated as well. I’m pretty sure my mom had it done, but I’m not positive. The lamination is frayed, damaged, and discolored at the edges, but it seems to have protected the card pretty well.
I haven’t had a Social Security card for the past 45 years, minimum. It got lost somewhere along the way and I never replaced it. And I’ve never been asked for it; ever. I guess if somebody really needed proof of the number, I could show my retired military card, but I just don’t see it happening.
53 years old, roughly 15 jobs total. I had to show my card to get hired at every one of them. According to the IRS:
I am approaching your age and, as I stated above, I was asked to show my SS card exactly once in my entire working career, so it is obviously not a rule that the majority of employers comply with, if they even know it is a rule.
I’ve just turned 50, with 10-12 jobs over the years, and I’ve never been asked for my SS card. Which is good since I don’t have one. I use my Passport and driver’s license for ID when starting new jobs.
I keep all my important documents (social security card, passport, birth certificate) in the envelope my college diploma came in (along with the diploma). The diploma envelope is kept in my desk. I’ve had to show my social security card for every job I’ve applied to.
Interesting that some have always been asked for the card for employment; some never. I’ll guess the former group is much younger than the latter.
In the early 1990’s there was a new regulation intended to prevent employing illegal aliens. (Even though not changing employer, I was asked for my card then, but passport was acceptable instead.)
If I’m not mistaken, all companies are required to have I-9 forms on file for their employees (if not, they are at least required to prove that their employees are who they claim to be and are eligible to work in the U.S… easiest way to do that is produce a properly filled out I-9 form). That being said, not all companies do what they are supposed to do (shocker!).
In my previous job in human resources, I was involved in processing paperwork for new hires. We were real sticklers… if they didn’t have proper I.D., they were sent home from orientation and could not start work until they had it. The I-9 form requires 1 document from “List A” (passports are in this column, as mentioned) OR one item from list B AND one from List C. IIRC, the most common item from List B was a driver’s license (something that proved identity) and the most common from List C was a social security card (to prove eligibility to work). But a birth certificate was an acceptable List C document as well. So not having your actual SS card would not bar you from employment if:
- you had other acceptable documentation
or - your employer didn’t care.
I once had to issue a disciplinary warning to someone who processed a new hire without seeing their physical SS card.
Dude, Alberta just has paper too? I didn’t think much of it when my Manitoban friend only had a paper one because, well, it’s Manitoba, but Alberta too?! What happens when you need to have it renewed? I’m sure you’ve seen the Saskie ones where the layer of renewal stickers is thicker than the plastic card itself 
Our Alberta healthcare cards don’t get renewed - you just get one forever and ever. 