A partial timeline

[jkennedy]

Actually I've wondered about that myself. I don't want to look at the man behind the curtain but clearly Jack's dad would have gotten one for him, with his concerns about finances would have a SSN for Jack. I mean he wasn't going to miss out on the tax deduction was he?

I think it means that RJ stopped using it rather than never had one (unless that's canon). Believe the story not the narrator.

[Lysistrata]

1890 – Ernst Drexler Sr born

1951 – Ernst Drexler Jr. born

Ernst Drexler Sr. was 61 when he conceived Jr. With a woman at least 20 years younger than he then. Not a very endearing character.

[Lisa]

When I went to college in 1990, the only place I had to put my SSN was in the work study forms. I was born in 1972 and my mom said people thought my dad was nuts when he went to get me and my brother SSN's when we were little (in fact, our SSN's are only one number apart, which has caused some weird credit trouble over the years). So I guess they weren't necessary for taxes yet at that time.

[Marc]

A quick Google search revealed this:

Before 1986, people often did not obtain a Social Security number until the age of about 14, since the numbers were used for income tracking purposes, and those under that age seldom had substantial income. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 required parents to list Social Security numbers for each dependent over the age of 5 for whom the parent wanted to claim a tax deduction.

The YA Jack books take place in 1983, when Jack is 13 or so.

[jkennedy]

Although Jack went to Rutgers....It seems unlikely never an SSN......Doesn't detract from the stories though.

[Lysistrata]

Could a US citizen applylate in life for a SSN by saying he spent his adulthood in another country, such as Canada?

[GuyOnEarth]

Anyone can apply for a social security number at any time, you don't have to give a reason. You can also request a new number for various reasons. It would be safe to assume that someone might attract attention if they didn't have one later in life, but it's not as unusual as one might think. I do think it's somewhat implausible that anyone born after the sixties would just not have one, especially if they were claimed as dependents on someone's taxes. I was born in the early 60's and I had one ever since I was a small child.

[Dave618]

I have little knowledge about facts concerning SSNs, but I recall having a SS card about the time I got my first job around age 14 or 15 or so. I thought SSNs were issued to babies when they're born; I guess I was wrong. RJ never having a SS card and never paying taxes, never voting, always reminded me of James W. Hall's Thorn character, who also lives off the grid. I should say Thorn reminds me of RJ, since RJ appeared on the scene a few years before Thorn, but I discovered RJ years after discovering Thorn.

The first character who had an extreme aversion to these types of Societal Institutions was probably Travis McGee. Trav's hatred of Credit Cards imprinted on my teenage mind so indelibly I've never used one. Debit card, yes, but no Credit Cards for me. And believe it or not I still use (GASP!) cash on occassion.

[joelfinkle]

From Wikipedia:

Before 1986, people often did not obtain a Social Security number until the age of about 14, since the numbers were used for income tracking purposes, and those under that age seldom had substantial income.^{[citation needed]} The Tax Reform Act of 1986 required parents to list Social Security numbers for each dependent over the age of 5 for whom the parent wanted to claim a tax deduction. Before this act, parents claiming tax deductions were on the honor system not to lie about the number of children they supported. During the first year, this anti-fraud change resulted in seven million fewer minor dependents being claimed, nearly all of which are believed to have involved either children that never existed, or tax deductions improperly claimed by non-custodial parents.^[5] By 1990, the threshold was lowered to 1 year old,^[6] and is now required regardless of the child's age. Since then, parents have often applied for Social Security numbers for their children soon after birth; today, it can be done on the application for a birth certificate.^[7]

So if Jack's father didn't claim him as a dependent, he probably didn't have an SSN. But Jack's father was no fool, so that's likely.

However, The Tomb was first published in 1984. At that point, his home town jobs weren't documented, and he might not have earned any significant money prior to leaving home. The Young Jack books, and moving the dates forward, make this less easy to swallow.

Of course, Jack's world isn't our world, and Jack's world may be a bit more libertarian in terms of requiring national ID numbers.

[gabbleduck]

Sorry to be pedantic, but Jack's father was not in the US Army, it was the Marine Corps.