Social Security payments will resume their regular monthly schedule in July after a calendar quirk left Supplemental Security Income recipients without checks in June, affecting millions of Americans who depend on federal benefits for basic living expenses.
SSI recipients will receive their July payment on Tuesday, July 1, marking a return to the standard first-of-the-month delivery after receiving two payments in May and none in June. The unusual timing occurred because June 1 fell on a Sunday, prompting the Social Security Administration to advance the June payment to May 30.
Regular Social Security retirement and disability payments will follow the established birth date-based schedule throughout July. Recipients who began receiving benefits before May 1997 will be paid on July 3, while others will receive payments based on their birth dates: July 9 for those born between the 1st and 10th, July 16 for birth dates between the 11th and 20th, and July 23 for those born between the 21st and 31st12.
The calendar adjustment primarily affected the 7.4 million Americans who receive SSI benefits, designed to support individuals with disabilities and older adults with limited income3. About one-third of SSI recipients also receive regular Social Security benefits3.
The payment schedule adjustments come as the Social Security Administration faces mounting operational challenges. The agency announced plans to eliminate 7,000 jobs, roughly 12 percent of its workforce, despite staffing already being near a 50-year low1. These cuts have raised concerns about service disruptions for the more than 68 million Americans who received Social Security benefits in January 20251.
Adding to beneficiary concerns, a new policy allowing the SSA to withhold up to 50 percent of monthly benefits from recipients with prior overpayments takes effect this month, a fivefold increase from the previous 10 percent cap2. The agency began issuing overpayment notices on April 25, with the earliest deductions occurring July 242.
The SSA is also accelerating its transition away from paper checks, encouraging all remaining recipients to switch to direct deposit or Direct Express debit cards by September 30, 202534.
