Breaking Barriers: What the Nation’s First SSAB Report Reveals About Orphanhood and America’s Forgotten Children
By Joyal Mulheron, Founder and Executive Director of Evermore
Brian never expected to raise three children on his own. A veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces, he had faced challenges before, but nothing prepared him for the sudden death of his wife. In the months that followed, Brian worked tirelessly to hold his family together — cooking meals, managing school drop-offs, holding down a job, and consoling his grieving children.
One of Brian’s children was eligible for Social Security survivors’ benefits. But Brian didn’t know the program existed. No one at the hospital told him. No pamphlet appeared at the funeral home. He didn’t receive a letter in the mail. By the time he learned about the program — months later — he had already depleted his savings and fallen behind on bills.
Brian’s story is heartbreaking, but it is not unique. It is the story of millions of families across the country who are left to navigate grief and, for some, poverty, without access to the benefits that were created for them and to prevent social and economic decline.
Over the past year, I have had the honor of advising The White House, Congress, Social Security Administration (SSA), and the Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB) on this very issue. In that role, I’ve worked to bridge the gap between policymakers and the families most impacted, facilitating introductions so that officials could hear directly from parents like Brian. Time and again, these conversations revealed the same truth: families are struggling, not because they are ineligible, but because the system is too hard to find, too hard to access, and too slow to respond.
That is why I am thrilled that SSAB released this report. Beyond being the first of its kind, a federal review of how survivors’ benefits are working for children and caregiving widowed parents, the issue has been overlooked in Washington for far too long.
This report builds directly on Evermore’s America’s Forgotten Orphans, released in December 2022. In our report, we highlighted the work of David Weaver, a Social Security and economics expert, who found that only 45-49% of bereaved children were receiving the survivors’ benefits they are entitled to. These benefits can be revelatory for families, offering them economic security and stability during a vulnerable, life-altering time. The SSAB report confirms those gaps and offers practical solutions to close them (more on that in a minute).
It’s essential to recognize that this is just a first step. We need to take many more steps to address the current gaps. The good news is that many action steps do not require legislative action. Our collective efforts will not only change the future of millions of children but also fulfill our moral obligation to grieving families and taxpayers, all the while strengthening our nation’s future.
What the SSAB Report Found
The report, “Social Security Benefits for Child Survivors and Caregiving Widowed Spouses,” spotlights the survivors’ insurance program — the lifeline intended to support children who have lost one or both parents. Among the key findings:
- Millions Are Eligible, But Many Miss Out: Children under 18, full-time high school students up to 19, and disabled adult children qualify for survivors’ insurance. Yet many families never apply. In some cases, parents are unaware that their children are eligible.
- Awareness Gaps Persist: While 83 percent of Americans have heard of survivors’ insurance, awareness is lowest among unmarried and nonwhite families — the very communities most impacted by parental death.
- A Burdensome Application Process: Grieving families face confusing rules, long wait times, and outdated systems. Today, families cannot apply for children’s survivors’ benefits online, which is stunning as the most sophisticated technological advances saturate America’s headlines and lead the stock market. Instead, grieving families must navigate an in-person or phone process that often compounds their pain.
- Opportunities for Change: The report recommends reforms, including online applications, outreach to funeral directors, for example, targeted public awareness campaigns, and mailed Social Security statements to help families understand their rights.
Why This Matters for Orphanhood in America
Behind these numbers are grieving children — real children who wake up every day without the security of a parent’s love and protection. Survivors’ insurance was created to prevent children from falling into poverty after such a loss, and there are notable stories on how survivors’ insurance altered the future of former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, whose father died of a heart attack in his sophomore year of high school. Ryan used survivor benefits to pay for his education at Miami University in Ohio. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz credits social security benefits with allowing his family to “live with dignity” after his father died of lung cancer when he was just 19. But as the SSAB report makes clear, too many grieving families face unnecessary barriers – and barriers that we can easily overcome.
A Call to Action
The SSAB’s recommendations are practical, achievable, and urgent. Policymakers should move quickly to:
- Modernize applications by creating a simple, secure online option.
- Expand outreach through schools, hospitals, and funeral directors who interact directly with bereaved families.
- Target awareness campaigns to communities at the highest risk of missing out.
- Resume mailed Social Security statements to improve knowledge of survivors’ insurance rights.
These changes won’t erase the pain of losing a parent, but they can soften the instabilities that can result.
Evermore’s Commitment
This report both validates and deepens our call for a policy and systems change for all bereaved people. For too long, we have conceived grieving people as a bunch of sad people. Orphanhood in America should be a priority for the U.S. government, but also philanthropy, and for each of us. If you know a child who is under the age of 18 and has lost a parent, let them know about this benefit (see this blog post for more information). As the SSAB highlights, addressing the needs of grieving children is not only possible — it’s urgent.
We will continue to push for a future where every child has access to the care, stability, and community they deserve. Together, with policymakers, partners, and families, we can transform orphanhood from an invisible concern into a public priority.