No joke!
My father hired me to do odd jobs from time to time, beginning when I was 11 years old — and he withheld and reported Social Security taxes bc back then benefits were based on lifetime earnings, not your last 10 years. I worked regularly from the time I was 16, 50 years ago, until I stopped working to care for aging, then dying parents.
I paid taxes for years on a very good income, but my final 10 years were spent working only part time. I'll get far more out of my IRAs/401(K)s than from SS. Other people are profiting from my labor far more than I am.