It was during the 43-day government shutdown in the fall of 2025 that an issue affecting many Social Security Administration (SSA) employees came to light. The majority of Social Security employees are categorized as "essential employees," meaning they had to report to work, even though they were not being paid. While higher-paid employees might have been able to get through those 43 days by withdrawing money from an emergency fund, others live too close to the edge to build a substantial emergency fund. ...