Never Worked? How You Can Still Get Social Security

You can get Social Security without ever having held a job, but not on your own record. A retirement benefit of your own takes 40 work credits, about 10 years of covered work. Without them, there are five main routes: a spousal benefit, a divorced-spouse benefit, a survivor benefit, a child's benefit (including for adults disabled since childhood), and SSI, the needs-based program that requires no work history at all. Which one fits depends on your marriage, your age, your health and your income.

Why your own record needs 40 credits

You earn work credits from covered earnings, up to four a year. In 2026 each credit takes $1,890 of earnings, so $7,560 for the year earns all four. In 2027 the figure rises to $1,970, or $7,880 for four. Credits never expire. Someone who worked a few years decades ago may be closer to 40 than they think, and part-time work counts the same as full-time.

If you have some credits but not 40, your own record pays nothing for retirement. The routes below still work, and so does going back to work long enough to finish the 40.

1. A spousal benefit

If you're married to someone who receives Social Security retirement or disability benefits, you can get up to 50% of their full benefit at your own full retirement age, which is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. Under SSA's rules at 20 CFR 404.330, you generally need to have been married at least one year and be 62 or older. You can qualify at any age if you're caring for their child who is under 16 or disabled. Claiming at 62 pays 32.5% of your spouse's full benefit instead of 50%.

Your spouse has to have filed first. Our guide to spousal benefits covers the timing rules.

2. A divorced-spouse benefit

A marriage that lasted at least 10 years still counts after a divorce. If you're unmarried and 62 or older, you can claim up to 50% of your ex's full benefit, and their benefit isn't reduced. After two years of divorce, your ex doesn't even need to have filed. Details are in our guide to divorced-spouse benefits.

3. A survivor benefit

If your spouse dies, you can collect up to 100% of their benefit, reduced if you claim before your full retirement age, to as little as 71.5% at 60. The marriage generally must have lasted at least nine months, with exceptions such as an accidental death, under 20 CFR 404.335. You can start as early as 60, or 50 if you're disabled, or at any age while caring for the worker's child under 16. A former spouse from a 10-year marriage can qualify too. See our survivor benefits guide.

4. A child's benefit, including for adults disabled young

Children of a worker who is retired, disabled or deceased can collect until 18, or 19 if still in high school. Under 20 CFR 404.350, an adult whose disability began before age 22 can also collect on a parent's record as an adult, with no work history of their own, for as long as the disability lasts and, in most cases, they stay unmarried. This is often called a disabled adult child benefit. It pays up to 50% of the parent's full benefit while the parent is alive and up to 75% after the parent dies. If an adult in your family has been disabled since childhood and a parent has started benefits, this one is worth checking.

5. SSI

Supplemental Security Income is the one program that needs no work record from anyone. It's for people who are 65 or older, blind or disabled, and have very little income and savings. Countable resources generally must stay under $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a couple; here's what counts. The maximum federal payment is $994 a month for an individual in 2026, rising to $1,029 in January 2027. Many states add a supplement. SSI is paid for out of general tax revenue rather than payroll taxes, and our SSI vs. SSDI comparison explains how it differs from disability insurance.

What about Medicare?

Premium-free Medicare Part A normally takes 40 credits, but they don't have to be yours. You can generally qualify at 65 on the record of a spouse who is at least 62, an ex from a 10-year marriage, or a late spouse, if that person had enough credits. Without that, you can still buy Part A, and Part B is open to most people 65 and older regardless of work history.

What it means for you

If you never worked, start with the people whose records you might claim on: a spouse, an ex from a 10-year marriage, a late spouse or a parent. Then check your own record in my Social Security, because old jobs may have left you with credits. Our benefits calculator can estimate a worker's benefit, and spousal amounts follow from it. Benefits are not automatic. You have to apply, online at ssa.gov, by phone at 1-800-772-1213, or at a local office.

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This article is general educational information, not legal or financial advice. Eligibility rules are summarized from SSA's regulations at 20 CFR Parts 404 and 416; dollar figures are SSA's published 2026 and 2027 amounts. Confirm your situation with the Social Security Administration. SocialSecurityNews.com is not affiliated with the SSA.