Eligibility For Social Security Benefits

For a worker or his family to receive Social Security benefits he must have worked in covered employment for a certain length of time. The basic time period used to determine a worker’s eligibility is the “quarter of coverage.” A quarter of coverage is any calendar quarter (i.e., a three-month period beginning January
1, April 1, July 1, or October 1) during which the worker earns $50 or more in wages. Regardless of how much more than $50 is earned during the quarter, only one quarter of coverage is allowed. Therefore, a covered worker can earn only four quarters of coverage per calendar year. The number of quarters a worker has earned will determine whether he will be considered fully insured, currently insured, and/or disability insured. It is important to understand that an individual’s insured status only determines his eligibility for benefits and not the size of the benefits. 

Fully insured. A worker can become fully insured in one of two ways: 

(1) by earning forty quarters of coverage at any time during his employment, or
(2) by earning as many quarters of coverage as the number of years between 1950 (or age 21, if later) and age 65 for males and 62 for females. However, under this method the worker must have earned at least six quarters of coverage. For example, a person who reached age 65 in 1971 would be fully insured if he had twenty-one quarters of coverage as this equals the number of years between 1950 and the year in which the worker became 65. The six-quarters-of-coverage rule becomes important when a worker dies at an early age. For example, if a worker who earned more than $50 a month reached age 21 on March 1, 1970, and died on May 1, 1971, he could be fully insured because he would have earned $50 in each of the required six quarters of coverage. 

Currently insured. An individual is currently insured if he has at least six quarters of coverage out of the last thirteen calendar quarters prior to his death or retirement. 

Disability insured. Disability insured status requirements depend on the age of the worker. If he is under 31, he needs Social Security credits for half the time after age 21, with a minimum of six quarters. If he is 31 or over at the time of disability, he must be fully insured and have credit for twenty of the last forty quarters prior to disability.