Older parents, your kids may be able to collect Social Security with you. How it works.

Older parents can take advantage of a little-known Social Security benefit that could help them maximize total lifetime benefits, experts said.

If you’re at least age 62, you may be able to claim Social Security and the dependent child benefit that'll provide your child with a monthly check for half your full retirement age (FRA) benefit even if you’re not yet 67, or FRA.

Only 1% of Social Security beneficiaries in January were children of retired workers, collecting an average $919.20 monthly, the Social Security Administration (SSA) said. However, the number of children born to women age 45 and older has soared 450% since 1990, government data showed. Or an older parent with a young child could be a result of a so-called May-December marriage, experts said.

In any case, more people may soon be eligible for this benefit. There's much to consider when deciding if such a move is right for you, but it’s an option some families have taken and say has even helped them save for their child’s college education.

“We get more calls on this than any other topic because it’s not advertised by Social Security, so people just stumble upon it,” said Michael Ruger, managing partner and chief investment officer at Greenbush Financial Group. “The dollar amounts can be so large if your kid is young.”