One chart shows how baby boomers are freaking out over Social Security

• Americans are flooding Social Security offices and phones over benefit concerns and identity measures.
• New identity verification rules and staff cuts fueled fears of benefit disruptions.
• Advocates warn of a feedback loop worsening call volumes and public anxiety.

Seniors are calling Social Security in spades and showing up en masse to field offices, as many fret about the future of their benefits.

Some are concerned about new identity measures, and others fear that their benefits could be affected. Taken together, this is creating a new problem: People who are worried about delays are straining the Social Security Administration's customer support systems with an influx in calls and appearances at field offices. That all comes as the agency has said it wants to reduce staff by 7,000 of its 57,000 workers.

In February, Social Security's 800 number received around 8.6 million calls; by March, it had received nearly 10.5 million calls. All told, the average number of daily calls per month rose by about 50,000 from February to March. March's average was 483,549, up from 312,533 a year before.

A Social Security operations worker said in a March 28th agency meeting that 665,000 people visited field offices in the week prior, which was "significant."

"Why are they coming? They're nervous," the worker said, who was identified as Ian, said. He said that visitors are coming in and requesting certified copies of their documents, which cost $100, and can usually be accessed online. He said that mySSA, the online portal, used to see around 2,500 users a week; now, that's up to 5,500.

"They're afraid of our systems going down. That's what they're telling us," he added.

When Business Insider's Allie Kelly tried to contact Social Security's 1-800 number last week, she was greeted with a voice message telling her that wait times were over 120 minutes — and then she got hung up on. Under 40% of callers reached a representative in March, according to SSA data, down from around 59% a year prior.

Social Security did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

"With a resounding mandate from the American people, President Trump is moving quickly to fulfill his promise of making the federal government more efficient," White House spokesperson Liz Huston said in a statement. "He has promised to protect Social Security, and every recipient will continue to receive their benefits."

The influx of calls and visitors comes after public uncertainty around the program. Social Security is still providing benefits , but some advocates and beneficiaries have raised concerns over new guidelines for identity verification.

Under that guidance, new beneficiaries would have to verify their identities either online or in-person. Advocates sounded alarms that the new process could leave behind seniors without access to the internet or the ability to come in person. The new guidelines were ultimately tweaked, with the identity proofing now set to start April 14 and applicants for Medicare, disability, and SSI exempted from the in-person requirement.

"The Trump Administration's rash statements and actions on Social Security are triggering widespread worry and stress, particularly among older and disabled people," Kathleen Romig, the director of Social Security and disability policy at the left-leaning think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said.

That cascade of worry is being felt beyond phone lines and field offices: At the end of March, the AARP told BI that the nonprofit has been receiving around 2,000 calls a week about Social Security benefits, with potential disruptions to checks coming in as "by far the number one" issue.

Tracey Gonniger, the managing director of economic security and housing at the advocacy group Justice in Aging, said she thinks that the agency could face a worsening feedback loop.

"You have higher call volume because you created higher call volume, and then you cut back on staff and then created more caller volume. They just keep on making the situation worse, and then people are panicking and probably then calling more because they're like, what's going on?" Gonniger said. "It's this weird effect of making it worse, and then cutting back and then making it worse, and then cutting back on services and making people lose faith in the system; it's really bad."

Workers on the ground are feeling that firsthand. One Social Security employee told BI that they had to talk down someone on the phone who was fearful that Elon Musk would take their checks; they ended up having to assure them and send them documentation they were due benefits.

The recipient was "clearly having an episode," the worker said. "Very sweet, very scared."

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via Signal at julianakaplan.33 or email at jkaplan@businessinsider.com. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.