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Social Security Beneficiary Statistics
Number of …
Beneficiaries by broad groups
Retired workers & dependents
Survivors
Disabled workers & dependents

The table below provides unedited data from our Master Beneficiary Record. See the links at left for other beneficiary data.
Number of disabled workers and their dependents receiving benefits on December 31, 1970-2008
Year Total Disabled workers 1 Spouses 2 Children 3
Total Male Female Total Hus-
bands		 Wives Total Minor Disabled Student
1970 2,665,629 1,493,316 1,069,234 424,082 283,526 522 283,004 888,787 799,272 14,302 75,213
1971 2,929,900 1,647,696 1,175,264 472,432 311,525 517 311,008 970,679 869,729 15,526 85,424
1972 3,271,486 1,832,916 1,300,284 532,632 350,139 526 349,613 1,088,431 968,587 17,584 102,260
1973 3,560,706 2,016,884 1,418,034 598,850 381,326 546 380,780 1,162,496 1,040,799 18,232 103,465
1974 3,911,951 2,236,928 1,549,365 687,563 411,795 551 411,244 1,263,228 1,124,113 20,988 118,127
1975 4,352,498 2,488,951 1,711,066 777,885 452,949 563 452,386 1,410,598 1,239,140 24,211 147,247
1976 4,623,827 2,670,244 1,823,762 846,482 473,909 550 473,359 1,479,674 1,285,655 26,893 167,126
1977 4,854,206 2,834,432 1,928,364 906,068 494,389 1,745 492,644 1,525,385 1,318,292 29,950 177,143
1978 4,868,576 2,879,828 1,952,227 927,601 491,535 2,304 489,231 1,497,213 1,296,771 31,585 168,857
1979 4,777,218 2,870,411 1,939,278 931,133 475,493 2,185 473,308 1,431,314 1,239,191 32,263 159,860
1980 4,682,172 2,861,253 1,929,618 931,635 462,204 2,147 460,057 1,358,715 1,185,618 32,898 140,199
1981 4,456,274 2,776,519 1,870,436 906,083 428,212 1,989 426,223 1,251,543 1,070,000 32,664 148,879
1982 3,973,465 2,603,713 1,745,568 858,145 365,883 1,831 364,052 1,003,869 894,506 30,027 79,336
1983 3,812,930 2,568,966 1,730,930 838,036 308,060 3,756 304,304 935,904 855,561 30,209 50,134
1984 3,821,804 2,596,535 1,747,548 848,987 303,984 4,837 299,147 921,285 858,244 31,166 31,875
1985 3,907,169 2,656,500 1,784,697 871,803 305,528 5,403 300,125 945,141 889,728 33,077 22,336
1986 3,993,279 2,727,386 1,826,179 901,207 300,592 5,858 294,734 965,301 910,385 34,642 20,274
1987 4,044,724 2,785,885 1,857,193 928,692 290,895 6,189 284,706 967,944 912,383 35,378 20,183
1988 4,074,300 2,830,284 1,876,878 953,406 280,821 6,379 274,442 963,195 902,412 35,823 24,960
1989 4,128,827 2,895,364 1,906,379 988,985 271,488 6,388 265,100 961,975 901,371 36,112 24,492
1990 4,265,981 3,011,294 1,967,408 1,043,886 265,890 6,488 259,402 988,797 927,511 37,154 24,132
1991 4,513,040 3,194,938 2,067,777 1,127,161 266,219 6,896 259,323 1,051,883 985,987 38,705 27,191
1992 4,889,696 3,467,783 2,219,789 1,247,994 270,674 7,435 263,239 1,151,239 1,084,035 42,030 25,174
1993 5,253,566 3,725,966 2,357,332 1,368,634 272,759 7,732 265,027 1,254,841 1,180,733 45,526 28,582
1994 5,583,519 3,962,954 2,473,061 1,489,893 271,054 7,857 263,197 1,349,511 1,270,719 48,396 30,396
1995 5,857,656 4,185,263 2,568,359 1,616,904 263,539 7,830 255,709 1,408,854 1,328,615 50,759 29,480
1996 6,072,034 4,385,623 2,644,454 1,741,169 223,854 5,489 218,365 1,462,557 1,377,094 52,632 32,831
1997 6,153,039 4,508,134 2,666,486 1,841,648 206,959 5,047 201,912 1,437,946 1,353,692 52,955 31,299
1998 6,334,570 4,698,319 2,737,296 1,961,023 189,843 4,500 185,343 1,446,408 1,360,805 54,430 31,173
1999 6,523,730 4,879,455 2,801,163 2,078,292 176,299 4,228 172,071 1,467,976 1,375,222 55,907 36,847
2000 6,673,362 5,042,334 2,856,411 2,185,923 165,123 4,019 161,104 1,465,905 1,374,407 56,754 34,744
2001 6,913,243 5,274,183 2,951,833 2,322,350 156,899 4,031 152,868 1,482,161 1,385,357 57,920 38,884
2002 7,221,268 5,543,981 3,070,001 2,473,980 151,614 4,137 147,477 1,525,673 1,422,265 59,459 43,949
2003 7,595,452 5,873,673 3,224,624 2,649,049 150,886 4,308 146,578 1,570,893 1,461,633 62,451 46,809
2004 7,949,272 6,197,664 3,373,359 2,824,305 152,805 4,506 148,299 1,598,803 1,485,274 64,737 48,792
2005 8,314,314 6,524,582 3,521,467 3,003,115 156,509 4,755 151,754 1,633,223 1,516,490 68,703 48,030
2006 8,619,385 6,811,679 3,646,650 3,165,029 155,658 4,939 150,719 1,652,048 1,530,399 71,991 49,658
2007 8,920,371 7,101,355 3,775,914 3,325,441 154,121 5,189 148,932 1,664,895 1,535,088 77,409 52,398
2008 9,273,839 7,427,203 3,924,844 3,502,359 154,527 5,533 148,994 1,692,109 1,552,192 84,858 55,059
1 By definition, a disabled-worker beneficiary worked in covered employment long enough to be insured and had been working recently in covered employment prior to disability onset.
2 A spouse of disabled worker must either (1) have a child under age 16 or a disabled child in his or her care, or (2) be at least 62 years old; applies also to divorced spouse if the marriage lasted at least 10 years.
3 A minor child is one under age 18. A disabled child is a person disabled before the age of 22. A student child is a high school student under age 19. (Prior to 1982, the student-child category also included college students; beginning in 1982, payments to college students were gradually phased out.)
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Last reviewed or modified Friday Dec 19, 2008
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