# Is your Social Security number on your birth certificate? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 30, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025 "2010-08-30T18:31:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/41 "2010-08-31T05:51:43Z")
> [@emmaliminal](#): > > My little sister and I are consecutive too. I thought that was normal for back in the day. Me three. My brother, who is 19 months younger, and I have consecutive numbers. I suspect I got one when I opened a bank account, and my father applied for my brother at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/42 "2010-08-31T06:15:12Z")
Apologies, I was mistaken. My SS card is kept with my birth certificate and birth registration card, and both were done with a typewriter, so the documents combined in my memory. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/43 "2010-08-31T11:51:50Z")
No. I actually remember getting my SSN. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/44 "2010-08-31T21:41:43Z")
I didn’t get a SSN until I got my first job. While I was growing up it was not necessary for parents to put the SSN of their children on a tax return in order to claim them as dependants. This changed with the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and then you had to start putting the SSN for children under 5 on your tax return. This resulted in the new practice of getting a SSN shortly after birth as it is now required for any dependant regardless of age. The first year the Tax Reform Act was implimented 7 million minor dependants disappeared from the tax rolls. Somebody must have been cheating! ---
**Author:** ![seanchai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@seanchai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seanchai)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/45 "2010-09-01T00:31:30Z")
Since my father was born in the UK, my original birth certificate explained my dual citizenship. That is all. SIN came along about 16 years later. Canadian here. an seanchai ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/46 "2010-09-01T00:39:56Z")
I didn’t get my SSN until I was about 12, so no, it wasn’t on my birth certificate. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/47 "2010-09-01T14:08:35Z")
So, now that you know that the lady is full of shit, what are you going to do about it? I think if someone was rude to me like that I’d for sure talk to a supervisor, especially if it turned out that the info they were rude about was false. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/48 "2010-09-01T15:06:29Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > So, now that you know that the lady is full of shit, what are you going to do about it? I think if someone was rude to me like that I’d for sure talk to a supervisor, especially if it turned out that the info they were rude about was false. Problem is a) I didn’t get her name; 2] she wasn’t _exactly_ rude to me. If she had been plainly rude to me, I think I would have been able to shrug it off and wouldn’t have been so frustrated. Instead, she spoke to me as though I were a slightly difficult and obtuse customer she was being careful not to set off. She was using a “I’m Being Very Patient and Professional” voice. If her supervisor listens to a recording of the call, it’d probably sound like she was doing her job as trained (except for that bit where she asserts that birth certificates are supposed to have SS#s on them, and a few other creative facts). It was a very neat bit of stealth condescension. In retrospect, I let myself get overwrought about it because the subject is so high-stakes. If I had been dealing with her over, say, my water bill ($29.40 every three months) it would have been unremarkable. Since I was laid off and am still unemployed, and my husband is underemployed with no benefits, and we had a kid, and I had cancer, doing everything exactly right with this COBRA-kept health insurance is just ridiculously important. It involves scary amounts of bureaucracy (four different organizations! – the insurance company, the benefits administration company, my old employer, and the federal dang gummint) and costs more than our mortgage. If they cancel the policy because I do something wrong (or “wrong”) with the paperwork, it would bankrupt us, no question. So I was panicking. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/49 "2010-09-01T15:29:15Z")
I was born in 1957 and got my SS# in 8th or 9th grade. I remember they announced in school that someone would be on campus issuing them, so I brought in the necessary documents and got it then. Back in the 50s I’m pretty sure it was unusual to issue them at birth. Edited to add: That ADP woman is a dumbass. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/50 "2010-09-01T15:58:24Z")
My oldest brother and I (14 years apart) have consecutive numbers too. The family story is that my mother took him to the SS office to get a card issued for his first job, and the clerk offered to issue one to me as well, even though I was a drooling 2 year old. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/51 "2010-09-01T22:23:22Z")
I have my birth certificate in my hand. This is a re-issue. It was issued after I got my SS number. My SS number is NOT on this. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/52 "2010-09-02T04:15:50Z")
I got my birth certificate in 1930. Since Herbert Hoover was still president I doubt that a SSN is on it. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/53 "2010-09-02T19:32:15Z")
My kids were born in the 90s. We had them get Social Security cards at birth (dunno if that was even an option, or just part of the paperwork we filled out at the hospital). The birth certificates are issued by the state. I don’t have them handy, but I’m 99.9999999% certain they do NOT have the kids’ SSNs. And mine - issued in 1959, re-requested a year or so back when I needed it for something - certainly does not. I didn’t even get my SSN until the early 70s, when a friend mentioned she had gotten one and I thought it’d be cool. ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/54 "2010-09-02T19:53:30Z")
My BC doesn’t have a SS number on it (I got mine at 16 or so) and neither of my kids have an SS number on theirs (we applied and got their numbers months after their births, for tax purposes). That lady is whacked, imo. Catch 22…the birth certificate must be filed by the Dr or midwife within a certain brief time period following birth, but you can’t GET a SS number WITHOUT a certificate of live birth on file and it takes a certain time period to go through the application process. 😕 The closest I got to this sort of nimrod was some civil servant who asked for my son’s BC and I admitted that I had yet to order a certified copy. (he was 5 mths old or so). She said, “Didn’t they give you one at the hospital?” I said, “Actually, he was born at home. My midwife filed it and I just haven’t gotten around to sending off for/paying for our copy.” She looked at me as if I had 7 heads (then checked to see if my SON had 7 heads). 😛 edited to correct typos…of which I seem to be the queen today. And also to add: maybe this IS some new thing they are doing…issuing numbers at birth to streamline the process.??? ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/55 "2010-09-02T20:25:23Z")
I got my SSN a long time before I had a job or driver’s license–not sure why, maybe parental tax reasons–but it’s not on my COLB. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/56 "2010-09-02T21:19:25Z")
Another sequential sibling checking in. We’re all two years apart and my SSN was issued when I was three or four (I think my aunt was opening savings accounts for us all). There are apparently new security measures in place for when you take out a loan. If they aren’t positive you are who you say you are they ask a few credit history related questions. One I was asked was from which state was I issued my SSN. I had no idea. I knew my siblings and I were sequential, and I knew my family moved a year after I was born. Since I’m the youngest I knew the numbers could have been issued in the state I was born or the next couple places we lived. I got the answer wrong. By the way, the first three digits of your SSN identify the issuing state. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/57 "2010-09-03T05:10:11Z")
> [@Ludy](#): > > Mine doesn’t and my one year old daughters doesn’t either. > > When I filled out her paperwork in the hospital there was an application for a SSN in addition to everything else. The SSN was mailed a few weeks later and was on its own card. To get a copy of her birth certificate I had to request one to be sent. They are totally independent from each other. > > But this is in Canada. Same as the US. It is a seperate application. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/58 "2010-09-03T14:19:05Z")
Huh. I was pretty sure I remembered seeing my SSN on mine. It’s not like I have it where I can get to it to check. I guess I should have went ahead with “I don’t know” like I was originally going to. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/59 "2010-09-04T20:21:33Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > Birth certificates in the US are typically issued by the County in which you were born. There is no requirement to have a SS# to be born and thus a birth certificate. > > However, to obtain a SS#, you must provide evidence of US birth, i.e. a birth certificate. No you don’t. I got SSNs for my kids when I needed them for US tax returns and only one of them was born in the US. I have the impression that in PA, birth certificates are issued by the Commonwealth’s office of vital statistics in Harrisburg. At least that’s where I had to write for mine. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025/60 "2010-09-04T20:31:07Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > There is no requirement to have a SS# to be born and thus a birth certificate. “Ma’am, you’re in labor, but we can’t let you give birth until the feds issue you a SSN. You’ll just have to wait a few weeks. Try to be calm.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-social-security-number-on-your-birth-certificate/552025.md?page=4)