The argument that government keeps getting bigger won’t play when you look at Social Security staffing levels between 2010 and 2015.
Increased wait times and staffing shortages have been popular topics when it comes to Social Security because so many people rely on the agency for retirement, disability and survivor’s benefits. Many of these people, especially the ones who apply for disability, end up waiting well more than two years before they can receive benefits due to long wait times and staffing shortages, which play a huge factor in this.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released statistics on the amount of Social Security staff that has been lost from 2010 to 2015 in every state. These statistics show that the majority of states have lost a level of staffing of up to 30 percent over just five years. Other states, a total of eight, have been luckier and actually gained staff from 2010 to 2015, but by no more than 5 percent. Typically when work volumes go up staffing levels increase to meet the need, but not so with the Social Security Administration.
The same trend can be seen at Disability Determination Services. Each state has an agency that determines whether a Social Security disability applicant meets the requirement to receive disability benefits during the initial application phase of the Social Security disability process. Disability Determination Services is a crucial cog for the Social Security Administration, but these agencies have had to do more with less as the numbers from 2010 to 2015 show. There were a total of 10 states that had a staff increase of up to 20 percent, but all the rest of the states had a reduction of staff of up to 30 percent. The arguments about increased government will always occur no matter what the facts show, but number do not lie.
