eli5: with social security numbers you only have 9 digits to choose from and only so many number orders to choose from. How do no 2 people have the same order of numbers?

Question

eli5: with social security numbers you only have 9 digits to choose from and only so many number orders to choose from. How do no 2 people have the same order of numbers?

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Answer 1

Currently the US population is less than the number of SSNs available. So they haven’t run into that problem yet. But when they do run into that problem, it’s probably a minor problem compared to the problem of keeping the system funded. (As one of my favorite political websites notes, “I hope Social Security is abolished long before we run out of Social Security Numbers.”)