6 ms·

The social security administration does have a central database of essentially everyone born in the US after 1986, when a law was passed that required you to pr

by robhlt 14d ago

The social security administration does have a central database of essentially everyone born in the US after 1986, when a law was passed that required you to provide the SSN of anyone you claimed as a dependent on your taxes. As a result essentially every child born in the US is issued an SSN along with their birth certificate.

dataflow 14d ago
> after 1986
toast0 13d ago
Enumeration at birth was piloted in three states starting in 1987, made available to all states in 1989, and more or less in use everywhere by 1997 ... Needing an SSN for taxes is the motivation (or vice versa) but implentation of the tax change happened before implementation of enumeration. Also, it should be noted, parents can opt out of enumeration at birth. The child certainly doesn't have input into that decision. Medical professionals are generally legally obligated to report births, but not all births happen with medical supervision. I was in college around 2000. Some of my fellow students had no way to obtain an official birth certificate as the county records had been lost in a flood or a fire or something. Older generations also have the legacy of Jim Crow. Birth registration rates in 1940 in some states was close to 80%. [1]. If you're born today and don't have a birth certificate, it's a giant PITA and your parents will likely end up getting your birth retroactively documented. Maybe when they want to claim you for taxes; maybe to enroll you in school. If you were born in 1940 and didn't have one, you probably just made do... When 24% of the children in Arkansas didn't get a birth certificate, everybody is going to be fine with you not having one. [1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1527492/?page=3 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1527492/?page=3 (paper from 1943)

6 ms·

The social security administration does have a central database of essentially everyone born in the US after 1986, when a law was passed that required you to pr

by robhlt 14d ago

dataflow 14d ago
> after 1986
toast0 13d ago
Enumeration at birth was piloted in three states starting in 1987, made available to all states in 1989, and more or less in use everywhere by 1997 ... Needing an SSN for taxes is the motivation (or vice versa) but implentation of the tax change happened before implementation of enumeration. Also, it should be noted, parents can opt out of enumeration at birth. The child certainly doesn't have input into that decision. Medical professionals are generally legally obligated to report births, but not all births happen with medical supervision. I was in college around 2000. Some of my fellow students had no way to obtain an official birth certificate as the county records had been lost in a flood or a fire or something. Older generations also have the legacy of Jim Crow. Birth registration rates in 1940 in some states was close to 80%. [1]. If you're born today and don't have a birth certificate, it's a giant PITA and your parents will likely end up getting your birth retroactively documented. Maybe when they want to claim you for taxes; maybe to enroll you in school. If you were born in 1940 and didn't have one, you probably just made do... When 24% of the children in Arkansas didn't get a birth certificate, everybody is going to be fine with you not having one. [1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1527492/?page=3 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1527492/?page=3 (paper from 1943)