Social Security Program Fact Sheet
Type of benefit | Number
of beneficiaries [In thousands] |
Monthly rate a [In millions] |
Average monthly amount a |
||
Total | 65,228 | $99,805 | b | ||
Retired workers and their family members, total | 50,146 | 80,770 | b | ||
Retired workers | 47,293 | 78,413 | $1,658 | ||
Spouses | 2,166 | 1,819 | 840 | ||
Children | 687 | 538 | 782 | ||
Survivors of deceased workers, total | 5,864 | 7,766 | b | ||
Children | 1,976 | 1,933 | 978 | ||
Widowed mothers and fathers with child beneficiaries in their care | 114 | 128 | 1,126 | ||
Aged widow(er)s, and aged parents | 3,550 | 5,522 | 1,555 | ||
Disabled widow(er)s | 224 | 183 | 818 | ||
Disabled workers and their family members, total | 9,218 | 11,269 | b | ||
Disabled workers | 7,877 | 10,699 | 1,358 | ||
Spouses | 96 | 36 | 378 | ||
Children | 1,245 | 533 | 428 | ||
a Benefit amounts represent the monthly amount due to beneficiaries in current-payment status for December 31, 2021. These amounts exclude any adjustments to benefits for retroactive payments and certain payment withholding that may be attributable to eligibility in prior months. Therefore, these data do not represent total benefits paid from the trust funds. | |||||
b Because 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. |
Current-Payment Status, December 31, 2021
Type of benefit | Number
of beneficiaries [In thousands] |
Monthly rate a [In millions] |
|||
Disabled beneficiaries (OASDI)—Workers, disabled children aged 18 and over, and disabled widow(er)s | 9,244 | $11,916 | |||
Children (OASDI) | 3,908 | 3,004 | |||
Student children | 94 | 84 | |||
Disabled children aged 18 and over | 1,143 | 1,033 | |||
Children under age 18 | 2,672 | 1,886 | |||
Survivor children and widowed mothers and fathers | 2,090 | 2,062 | |||
Beneficiaries aged 62 and over (OASDI) | 55,503 | 89,321 | |||
Beneficiaries aged 65 and over (OASDI) | 50,796 | 83,081 | |||
a Benefit amounts represent the monthly amount due to beneficiaries in current payment status for December 31, 2021. These amounts exclude any adjustments to benefits for retroactive payments and certain payment withholding that may be attributable to eligibility in prior months. Therefore, these data do not represent total benefits paid from the trust funds. |
Current-Payment Status, December 31, 2021
Selected family a group | Number
of families [In thousands] |
Average family benefit b |
Average number of beneficiaries per family |
Retired worker alone | 44,644 | $1,646 | 1.000 |
Retired worker and spouse, aged 62 and over | 2,042 | 2,739 | 2.000 |
Disabled worker, spouse under normal retirement age, and 1 or more children | 30 | 2,382 | 3.895 |
Widowed parent and 2 children | 34 | 3,168 | 3.000 |
Children of deceased workerc | 1,284 | 1,272 | 1.319 |
Aged widow(er) alone | 3,373 | 1,553 | 1.000 |
a A family means beneficiaries
entitled on one worker's account. b Benefit amounts represent the monthly amount due to beneficiaries in current payment status for December 31, 2021. These amounts exclude any adjustments to benefits for retroactive payments and certain payment withholding that may be attributable to eligibility in prior months. Therefore, these data do not represent total benefits paid from the trust funds. c In most cases, the family includes a widowed parent whose benefits are withheld due to earnings. |
- Coverage
We estimate that about 178 million people will work in OASDI-covered employment in 2022.We estimate that about 94 percent of workers in paid employment and self-employment are covered under the OASDI program.
- Benefit receipt among the elderly
As of December 31, 2021, we estimate that about 88 percent of the population aged 65 and over were receiving benefits. - Protection for survivors of young workers
We estimate that about 96 percent of persons aged 20-49 who worked in covered employment in 2021 have acquired survivorship protection for their children under age 18 (and surviving spouses caring for children under age 16). - Disability protection
We estimate that about 89 percent of persons aged 21-64 who worked in covered employment in 2021 can count on monthly cash benefits if they suffer a severe and prolonged disability.
[In billions]
Calendar year |
Fiscal year |
|||||
Income | $1,088.3 | $1,080.4 | ||||
Payroll tax contributions | 980.6 | 972.3 | ||||
Reimbursement from General Revenue | a | a | ||||
Taxation of benefits | 37.6 | 34.8 | ||||
Interest and other income | 70.1 | 73.3 | ||||
Costs | 1,144.6 | 1,134.8 | ||||
Total benefit payments b | 1,133.2 | 1,123.4 | ||||
OASI | 993.1 | 982.7 | ||||
DI | 140.1 | 140.7 | ||||
Railroad Retirement transfer | 4.9 | 4.9 | ||||
Administrative expenditures | 6.5 | 6.4 | ||||
Asset reserves, end of period | 2,852.0 | 2,853.9 | ||||
a Less than $50,000,000. b Benefit payments which were scheduled to be paid on January 3, 2021 were actually paid on December 31, 2020 as required by the statutory provision for early delivery of benefit payments when the normal payment delivery date is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal public holiday. The amount of these payments made on an accelerated basis was approximately $18.7 billion for the OASI Trust Fund and $6.1 billion for the DI Trust Fund. For comparability with the values for historical years, the trust fund operations and asset reserves presented here reflect the 12 months of benefits scheduled for payment each year. Note: Totals may not equal the sums of rounded components. |