A child may be able to get Child’s Insurance Benefits if one or both of their parents are disabled, retired, or dead. The child must be a natural or adopted child, or a dependent stepchild. In some cases, they may also qualify for benefits on their grandparents' earnings.

Read Benefits for Children (PDF, 159 KB) for more details.

To qualify, a child must have:

• A parent who is disabled or retired and entitled to Social Security benefits, or
• A parent who died after earning enough Social Security credits on their record.

The child must also be:

• Unmarried,
• Younger than age 18, or
• Age 18-19 and a full-time student (no higher than grade 12), or
• Age 18 or older and disabled. (The disability must have begun before age 22).

Visit the Information You Need To Apply for Child’s Benefits – Form SSA-4 page for details on how to apply.

To find out what other Social Security Administration (SSA) benefits you may qualify for, use the SSA Benefit Eligibility Screening Tool (BEST) on Benefits.gov. When you complete the questionnaire, you get a list of benefits to review. You can print this page for your records.

When you know which benefits you may apply for, click Apply for Social Security Benefits to apply online. You can also call the phone numbers below to learn more about SSA benefits and how to apply.