Social security benefits are based on the parent's work history. A lot of the clients I work with receive them (I work with the developmentally disabled). The amount varies greatly from person to person depending on their parents' work history, so the $700 is directly related to how much income your friends had earned over the course of their working lives (and, consequently, how much they paid into Soc. Security). They have paid their taxes all this time - now their child is entitled to collect. Of course, I'm not counting on social security being around for me in 40 years
