Who does social security provide benefits to? It's not just the elderly who qualify.

Social Security isn’t just for the elderly. It’s also for children. But that's sometimes overlooked.

“Too many people fall into the trap of thinking of Social Security as strictly a program for ‘old people,’” says Kurt Czarnowski, a Social Security expert with Czarnowski consulting.

Nearly 4 million people under 18 receive a monthly Social Security payment because a parent has retired, become disabled or died And these benefits can help stabilize a family’s future, according to the Social Security Administration.

Consider: Children of retired workers receive on average nearly $788 a month; children of deceased workers receive on average a little more than $981 a month; and children of disabled workers receive on average a little more than $432 a month.

Here’s what experts say you need to know about benefits for children:

Who can get child benefits?

Philip Herzberg, a lead financial adviser with Team Hewins, says that to get benefits, a child must have either;

• A parent who is retired or has a disability and is entitled to Social Security benefits.

• A parent who died after having worked long enough in a job that they paid Social Security taxes.

For a child to be paid, the retired or disabled parent must actually be collecting benefits, Czarnowski says.

“Under the old ‘file and suspend’ strategy, if a parent has reached full retirement age, he/she could ask to have his/her retirement benefits ‘suspended,’ and the Social Security Administration could still pay others who might be eligible on the record, i.e. a spouse or children.

"However, this strategy was eliminated with the passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. And while a parent at full retirement age still has the option of requesting ‘voluntary payment suspension,’ an eligible child can only be paid if the parent is collecting.”

One exception, Czarnowski says, is if the parent's benefits have been suspended because he or she is incarcerated.

“In these cases, monthly benefits can still be paid to eligible family members,” he says. “Mandatory suspension of benefits due to incarceration is completely different from ‘voluntary payment suspension.’”

According to Herzberg, parents should consider the following five factors when applying for a child’s Social Security benefits:

How are children eligible for Social Security?

To be eligible for Social Security benefits, Herzberg says your child must be unmarried and under 18, or under 19 if still a full-time elementary or high school student. Disabled children over 18 are also eligible for benefits as long as the total disability began before age 22. The child can be your natural child, legally adopted child, stepchild and, in some cases, a grandchild (if the child’s parents are dead or disabled, and the child is your dependent).

How much can a family get from Social Security?

Your child’s benefit is based on 50% of the parent’s primary insurance amount at full retirement age, Herzberg said. “Also, the child’s benefit is worth up to half of the disability benefit amount, or 75% of their late parent’s basic Social Security benefit,” he notes.

Does a child get full benefits if a parent claimed Social Security early?

Even if you claim reduced retirement benefits early or larger benefits by delaying, the child’s benefit is based on half of the parent’s full retirement benefit, Herzberg says. “The same calculation applies if there is more than one child. Plus, as the caregiver of a minor child, your spouse could also receive up to half of the worker’s retirement benefit until the youngest child turns 16.

What are the limits on Social Security?

A caveat is that the total amount paid on a worker’s record is capped at the family maximum, which falls somewhere between 150% and 180% of the parent’s full retirement benefit based on his or her earnings, Herzberg says. “If the total amount payable to all family members exceeds this limit, the Social Security Administration reduces each person’s benefit proportionally until the total equals the maximum allowable amount,” he says. “The worker’s own benefit, however, will not be impacted.”

What are earnings restrictions for Social Security?

A parent who claims any type of Social Security benefits, including survivor benefits, before full retirement age is subject to earnings restrictions, Herzberg says. If parents’ wages or self-employment income exceeds $19,560 in 2022 or $21,240 in 2023, they would lose $1 in benefits for every $2 earned over that limit.

Robert Powell is co-founder of finStream.tv and editor of Retirement Daily on TheStreet. Follow him on Twitter: @retirementpedia.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who gets social security benefits? Children quality too. Here's why.