Social Security for women?

Have you ever worked? Are you a widow, divorced, never married. Are you of retirement age? I checked the SSI site and never saw anything for women that stay home to raise children. See below:

The number of credits you need to be eligible for benefits depends on your age and the type of benefit.

Retirement benefits

Anyone born in 1929 or later needs 10 years of work (40 credits) to be eligible for retirement benefits. People born before 1929 need fewer years of work.

Survivors benefits

When a person who has worked and paid Social Security taxes dies, certain members of the family may be eligible for survivors benefits. Up to 10 years of work is needed to be eligible for benefits, depending on the person’s age at the time of death. Survivors of very young workers may be eligible if the deceased worker was employed for 1½ years during the three years before his or her death.

Social Security survivors benefits can be paid to:

•A widow or widower—full benefits at full retirement age, or reduced benefits as early as age 60.

•A disabled widow or widower—as early as age 50.

•A widow or widower of any age who takes care of the deceased’s child who is younger than age 16 or disabled, and receiving Social Security benefits.

•Divorced spouses under certain conditions.

•Unmarried children under 18, or up to age 19 if they attend elementary or secondary school full time. Under certain circumstances, benefits can be paid to stepchildren, grandchildren or adopted children.

•Children who were disabled before age 22 and remain disabled.

•Dependent parents age 62 or older.

Medicare

The Social Security credits you earn also count toward eligibility for Medicare when you reach age 65. You may be eligible for Medicare at an earlier age if you get disability benefits for 24 months or more. Those who have permanent kidney failure or get disability benefits because of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease) do not have to wait 24 months to receive Medicare coverage. Your dependents or survivors also may be eligible for Medicare at age 65 or earlier if they are disabled. People who have permanent kidney failure and need kidney dialysis or a kidney transplant may be eligible for Medicare at any age based on a spouse’s or parent’s earnings as well as their own. If you would like to have more information about Medicare, contact us and ask for Medicare (Publication No. 05-10043).

I hope some of this has helped you.

I think what you are referring to is a rather obscure provision that only applies in disability benefit computations. You can be given credit for up to three "child care drop out years." It applies to a year in which you had zero earned income AND had a child under the age of three. The effect is to give you a more advantageous (higher) benefit computation, but you still have to meet the minimum requirements to be insured for disability benefits (you have to have worked during five of the ten years immediately precending the date you became unable to work due to a physical or mental disability).

You do not get any additional quarters of coverage for having children. If you inquired about disability, you might have been told you are not insured based on the date of disability you gave. What you should find out is whether you ever had insured status for disability at ANY point, then you could decide whether you feel you were disabled during that period. You always have the right to file a claim, and have appeal rights if it is denied. The longer you wait to file a disability claim, the harder it is to have it approved, since the medical records may not be available after a certain amount of time. It is not enough to be disabled -- you have to be disabled during a period that you are INSURED for disability based on your work history.

My mom had some problems with SSI as well.

In the end, she found a local attorney, got her settlement and SSI had to pay for the attorney.

It's standard practice for SSI to deny any claims which come in. Ask any insurance company how they make money. They do it by NOT paying claims.

SSI is Social Security INSURANCE.