Social Security needs to prioritize customer service

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has struggled with customer service for years. Declining staffing and funding have left North Dakotans in the lurch, dealing with long wait times on the phone and in Social Security offices, busy signals on the phone, or being unable to reach anyone for their customer service needs. SSA scrapped a service change last week that would have forced many North Dakotans to go to a Social Security office in person for routine services currently handled over the phone. This would have been a significant barrier to service in a state where 13,000 people over 65 live 180 miles round-trip from the nearest SSA office. 

No organization has been more outspoken about tackling SSA’s customer service issues than AARP.

While we’re encouraged that SSA is listening to customer service concerns, we won’t take potential improvements for granted. The incoming Social Security administrator needs to focus on delivering effective and efficient customer service to everyone who needs access to Social Security. 

According to SSA’s own data, call wait times, hold times, and customer service resolutions have been inconsistent for years. Call volume to SSA has increased substantially, and wait times are rising. Fewer people can reach a Social Security representative to meet their needs, and fewer people are getting resolutions to their problems.

It doesn’t help that Congress hasn’t provided the funding necessary to ensure Social Security can deliver quality customer service. Funding to improve the program has long been on the decline. SSA funding has dropped by 9% since 2018.

This challenge emerges just as more people – approximately 10,000 people every day – are retiring. 

Yet, SSA has been unclear and uncommunicative with the public about its customer service issues in 2025. From backtracking on phone service changes to confusion over office closures, SSA’s public controversies have driven anxiety for Americans everywhere. If they don’t commit to customer service improvements, it will cause real hardship for many older Americans trying to get the Social Security they have earned. 

The incoming Social Security commissioner would be well served by re-committing SSA to providing timely, efficient and effective customer service. SSA must be clear when communicating any possible changes and the effects of lower staffing levels. And Congress needs to provide oversight to ensure that customer service is prioritized at an agency that has struggled to serve Americans everywhere.

You earned your Social Security benefits.