More than 300 million Americans have an active Social Security number, and of those, just over 74 million receive monthly Social Security benefits. Serving this massive number of people keeps the Social Security Administration (SSA) quite busy. And if you’ve ever dealt with the SSA, you may have encountered an issue with customer service that left you less than satisfied. While there are some common yet polarizing opinions about Social Security floating around, and some experts say Washington will have to break its promise to save Social Security, the data suggests that strides have been made recently to improve the agency and help the people who rely on its customer service.
In a January 2026 meeting between SSA Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano and several Social Security Advisory Board (SSBA) members, including Chair Amy Shuart, updates were provided on recent Social Security improvements. In the SSA’s news release, the agency claimed that Americans now have access to their My Social Security accounts 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Previously, the SSA online account access was down 29 hours a week. Other reported improvements revolve around reducing wait times for phone calls and in-person visits to field offices around the country.
According to an audit performed by the Social Security Office of the Inspector General at Senator Elizabeth Warren’s request, the SSA’s claims surrounding its performance metrics are accurate, and the improvements were possible thanks to a new telecommunications system and personnel rearrangement. And while some hurdles and inefficiencies remain, these new enhancements should give retirees easier access to SSA’s services.
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How are Social Security improvements actually helping retirees?
A happy retired couple sitting together on a couch looking at a phone the woman is holding and pointing to. – pics five/Shutterstock
Contacts with the SSA are on the rise, going from 571 million in 2023 to 722 million in 2025, per an SSA performance report. Despite the increase, the agency was able to answer 65% more calls in the fiscal year 2025 compared to fiscal year 2024. Additionally, the agency reports that call wait times, which include the time for callers who accept the call-back option, were just seven minutes as of September 2025. This is down from its peak of 42 minutes in November 2024.
Per the audit Senator Warren requested (which includes some details not made public), wait times for those who want to speak to a representative and don’t opt for a call back are almost 19 minutes as of September 2025. Call backs are recorded as having a zero-minute wait time, but the audit states that in September 2025, it took an average of one hour and two minutes for the agency to return a call. There were also 25 million calls either not connected or not completed in fiscal year 2025, with a peak of 3.4 million abandoned calls in January 2025; this number fell to 911,000 in September 2025. Callers typically waited around 22 minutes on hold before abandoning their efforts. Also, according to internal SSA data obtained by The Washington Post, only 66% of disability claims led to an appointment within 28 days of submission — down from almost 90% in the spring of 2025. So, while some improvements have been made, the agency still has work to do on improving service for retirees who need help with Social Security benefits.
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