The Social Security Statement : Background, Implementation, and Recent Developments

This article provides the first comprehensive description of the substantial effort and resources involved in developing and implementing the annual earnings and benefit statement that the Social Security Administration (SSA) began mailing in 2000 to all workers aged 25 or older. Details about the statement's background and implementation should be useful to researchers studying the statement's effect on workers' retirement decisions and knowledge of the program. The article also describes the suspension of the printed version of the statement in March 2011 to conserve agency funds, the launch of the online statement in May 2012, various efforts to reinstate statement mailings, and the decision to resume mailings to workers of selected ages beginning in September 2014. The article concludes by describing changes in the statement's appearance and content, the statement's relationship to SSA's strategic plans, and the surveys SSA commissioned to measure public awareness and knowledge of Social Security