Social Security

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

A. Beneficiaries in Current-Payment Status, December 31, 2015

Type of benefit			Number of beneficiaries [In thousands]	Monthly ratea [In millions]	Average monthly amounta
Total			59,963	$73,642	b
	Retired workers and their family members, total		43,073	55,825	b
		Retired workers	40,089	53,790	$1,342
		Spouses	2,336	1,612	690
		Children	649	422	651
	Survivors of deceased workers, total		6,084	6,770	b
		Children	1,893	1,575	832
		Widowed mothers and fathers with child beneficiaries in their care	140	131	940
		Aged widow(er)s, and aged parents	3,792	4,877	1,286
		Disabled widow(er)s	259	186	719
	Disabled workers and their family members, total		10,806	11,047	b
		Disabled workers	8,909	10,386	1,166
		Spouses	142	45	318
		Children	1,755	616	351
a Benefit amounts represent the monthly amount due to beneficiaries in current payment status for December 2015. 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.

 

B. Selected Categories of Beneficiaries (Included Above) in
Current-Payment Status, December 31, 2015

Type of benefit		Number of beneficiaries [In thousands]	Monthly ratea [In millions]
Disabled beneficiaries (OASDI)—Workers, disabled children aged 18 and over, and disabled widow(er)s		10,237	$11,380
Children (OASDI)		4,297	2,613
	Student children	133	94
	Disabled children aged 18 and over	1,068	807
	Children under age 18	3,096	1,712
Survivor children and widowed mothers and fathers		2,033	1,706
Beneficiaries aged 62 and over (OASDI)		48,359	62,954
Beneficiaries aged 65 and over (OASDI)		43,243	57,149
a Benefit amounts represent the monthly amount due to beneficiaries in current payment status for December 2015. 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. Average Monthly Family Benefits in
Current-Payment Status, December 31, 2015

Selected family a group	Number of families [In thousands]	Average family benefitb	Average number of beneficiaries per family
Retired worker alone	37,355	$1,330	1.000
Retired worker and spouse, aged 62 and over	2,170	2,214	2.000
Disabled worker, spouse under full retirement age, and 1 or more children	57	1,983	3.966
Widowed parent and 2 children	43	2,647	3.000
Children of deceased workerc	1,185	1,078	1.313
Aged widow(er) alone	3,607	1,285	1.000
a A family means beneficiaries entitled on one worker's account. a Benefit amounts represent the monthly amount due to beneficiaries in current payment status for December 2015. 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.

 

D. Measures of Protection

1. Coverage
   We estimate that about 170 million people will work in OASDI-covered employment in 2016.

   We estimate that about 94 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, 2015, we estimate that about 88 percent of the population aged 65 and over were receiving benefits.
3. Protection for survivors of young workers
   We estimate that about 96 percent of persons aged 20-49 who worked in covered employment in 2015 have acquired survivorship protection for their children under age 18 (and surviving spouses caring for children under age 16).
4. Disability protection
   We estimate that about 90 percent of persons aged 21-64 who worked in covered employment in 2015 can count on monthly cash benefits if they suffer a severe and prolonged disability.

 

E. Operations of OASI and DI Trust Funds, Combined, in 2015
[In billions]

			Calendar year	Fiscal year
Total Income			$920.2	$913.3
	Payroll tax contributions		794.9	786.4
	Reimbursement from General Revenue		0.3	0.3
	Taxation of benefits		31.6	30.7
	Interest and other income		93.3	96.0
Expenditures			897.1	887.7
	Total Benefit payments		886.3	876.6
		OASI	742.9	733.7
		DI	143.4	142.9
	Railroad Retirement transfer		4.7	4.7
	Administrative expenditures		6.2	6.4
Asset reserves, end of period			2,812.5	2,808.2
Note: Totals may not equal the sums of rounded components.