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Social Security Program Fact Sheet

Beneficiary data

Family benefit data

Trust fund data

Our semi-annual Fact Sheet on the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Program provides recent information on the number of beneficiaries and their average benefit amount, measures of protection provided by Social Security, and trust fund financial data. The latest Fact Sheet is shown below.

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FACT SHEET ON THE OLD-AGE, SURVIVORS, AND DISABILITY INSURANCE PROGRAM

A. Beneficiaries in Current-Payment Status, December 31, 2009

Type of benefit Number of
beneficiaries
[In thousands]		 Monthly
rate
[In millions]		 Average
monthly
amount
Total 52,523 $55,906 a
 Retired workers and their family members, total 36,417 40,685 a
  Retired workers 33,513 39,020 $1,164
  Spouses 2,343 1,345 574
  Children 561 320 570
 Survivors of deceased workers, total 6,410 6,329 a
  Children 1,921 1,436 747
  Widowed mothers and fathers with child beneficiaries in their care 160 135 842
  Aged widow(er)s, and aged parents 4,092 4,597 1,123
  Disabled widow(er)s 236 161 683
 Disabled workers and their family members, total 9,696 8,892 a
  Disabled workers 7,789 8,290 1,064
  Spouses 159 46 287
  Children 1,749 556 318
a Since the benefit amounts for workers and for the various types of family members and survivors are based on different proportions of the worker's benefit, average monthly amounts for groups of these different kinds of beneficiaries are not meaningful.

 

B. Selected Categories of Beneficiaries (Included Above) in
Current-Payment Status, December 31, 2009

Type of benefit Number of
beneficiaries
[In thousands]		 Monthly
rate
[In millions]
Disabled beneficiaries (OASDI)—Workers, disabled children aged 18 and over, and disabled widow(er)s 8,946 $9,074
Children (OASDI) 4,231 2,312
 Student children 152 97
 Disabled children aged 18 and over 921 623
 Children under age 18 3,158 1,592
Survivor children and widowed mothers and fathers 2,081 1,570
Beneficiaries aged 62 and over (OASDI) 41,557 46,775
Beneficiaries aged 65 and over (OASDI) 36,594 41,616

 

C. Average Monthly Family Benefits in
Current-Payment Status, December 31, 2009

Selected family a group Number of
families
[In thousands]		 Average
family
benefit		 Average
number of
beneficiaries
per family
Retired worker alone 30,806 $1,152 1.000
Retired worker and spouse, aged 62 and over 2,228 1,892 2.000
Disabled worker, spouse under full retirement age, and 1 or more children 72 1,803 3.954
Widowed parent and 2 children 50 2,392 3.000
Children of deceased workerb 1,161 980 1.327
Aged widow(er) alone 3,910 1,123 1.000
a A family means beneficiaries entitled on one worker's account.
b In most cases, the family includes a widowed parent whose benefits are withheld due to earnings.

 

D. Measures of Protection

  1. Coverage
    About 156 million people will work in OASDI-covered employment in 2010.

    About 93 percent of workers in paid employment and self-employment are covered under the OASDI program.

  2. Benefit receipt among the elderly
    As of December 31, 2009, about 90 percent of the population aged 65 and over were receiving benefits.

  3. Protection for survivors of young workers
    About 97 percent of persons aged 20-49 who worked in covered employment in 2009 have acquired survivorship protection for their children under age 18 (and surviving spouses caring for children under age 16).

  4. Disability protection
    About 91 percent of persons aged 21-64 who worked in covered employment in 2009 can count on monthly cash benefits if they suffer a severe and prolonged disability.

 

E. Operations of OASI and DI Trust Funds, Combined
[In billions]

Calendar
year
2008		 Fiscal
year
2009		 Cumulative 1937 through end of —
Calendar year 2008 Fiscal year 2009
Income $805.3 $807.0 $13,058.7 $13,656.4
 Contributions 672.1 668.2 11,570.4 12,091.6
 Other 133.2 138.8 1,488.3 1,564.9
Expenditures 625.1 669.7 10,640.1 11,152.8
 Benefit payments 615.3 659.6 10,422.1 10,926.1
  OASI 509.3 544.5 9,041.4 9,457.2
  DI 106.0 115.1 1,380.7 1,468.9
 Other 9.8 10.1 218.0 226.7
Assets, end of period 2,418.7 2,503.6 2,418.7 2,503.6
Note: Totals may not equal the sums of rounded components.

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Last reviewed or modified Wednesday Jan 6, 2010
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