Your birthday determines which Wednesday your government check arrives
To prevent massive bank runs and physical crowds, the Social Security Administration uses a staggered delivery system that splits 65 million people into cohorts based on their birth date.
Until the late 1990s, nearly every Social Security recipient received their payment on the third day of the month, often leading to long lines at banks and a localized economic surge. To fix this, the government introduced an algorithm in 1997 that staggers payments across three consecutive Wednesdays. If you were born between the 1st and 10th of the month, your check arrives on the second Wednesday; those born after the 20th wait until the fourth.
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