I was wondering why that was

Despite what my wife and the Social Security Administration might tell you, I worked very hard between 2001-2005 as a graduate teaching assistant.  My wife just likes to tease me, but the SSA really does not consider me as gainfully employed for those four years.  The reason was that despite my drawing a decent salary as a TA, I did not pay any any payroll taxes.  As a consequence, I have not yet qualified for Social Security when I reach retirement age.  At first, I concluded that this was due to my being a state employee.  However, other people I knew who worked for state and local government, including my wife who worked for a different state, payed payroll taxes.  I did not know what was what until I came this blog entry.  It turns out that at one point state and local government could opt out of paying payroll taxes.  Some states, who opted out early one, still do not pay them.  Others have slowly been pulled in to the system either by choice or through changes to who was exempt.  The lesson:  If you want to avoid paying payroll taxes while you go to graduate school, attend school in Iowa.