Social Security

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

A. Beneficiaries in Current-Payment Status, June 30, 2018

Type of benefit			Number of beneficiaries [In thousands]	Monthly rate a [In millions]	Average monthly amount a
Total			62,465	$81,026	b
	Retired workers and their family members, total		46,196	63,177	b
		Retired workers	43,130	60,959	$1,413
		Spouses	2,377	1,752	737
		Children	689	466	677
	Survivors of deceased workers, total		5,973	6,902	b
		Children	1,911	1,644	860
		Widowed mothers and fathers with child beneficiaries in their care	125	121	975
		Aged widow(er)s, and aged parents	3,680	4,949	1,345
		Disabled widow(er)s	257	187	728
	Disabled workers and their family members, total		10,296	10,947	b
		Disabled workers	8,623	10,334	1,198
		Spouses	123	42	337
		Children	1,550	572	369
a Benefit amounts represent the monthly amount due to beneficiaries in current-payment status for June 30, 2018. 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, June 30, 2018

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		9,998	$11,398
Children (OASDI)		4,150	2,682
	Student children	123	94
	Disabled children aged 18 and over	1,118	877
	Children under age 18	2,908	1,711
Survivor children and widowed mothers and fathers		2,036	1,766
Beneficiaries aged 62 and over (OASDI)		51,495	70,603
Beneficiaries aged 65 and over (OASDI)		46,432	64,625
a Benefit amounts represent the monthly amount due to beneficiaries in current payment status for June 30, 2018. 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, June 30, 2018

Selected family a group	Number of families [In thousands]	Average family benefit b	Average number of beneficiaries per family
Retired worker alone	40,321	$1,401	1.000
Retired worker and spouse, aged 62 and over	2,208	2,362	2.000
Disabled worker, spouse under full retirement age, and 1 or more children	44	2,055	3.945
Widowed parent and 2 children	37	2,741	3.000
Children of deceased workerc	1,221	1,115	1.314
Aged widow(er) alone	3,498	1,343	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 June 30, 2018. 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 175 million people will work in OASDI-covered employment in 2018.

   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 June 30, 2018, 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 95 percent of persons aged 20-49 who worked in covered employment in 2017 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 89 percent of persons aged 21-64 who worked in covered employment in 2017 can count on monthly cash benefits if they suffer a severe and prolonged disability.

 

E. Operations of OASI and DI Trust Funds, Combined, in 2017
[In billions]

			Calendar year	Fiscal year
Income			$996.6	$991.9
	Payroll tax contributions		873.6	868.0
	Reimbursement from General Revenue		a	a
	Taxation of benefits		37.9	37.4
	Interest and other income		85.1	86.5
Expenditures			952.5	944.7
	Total benefit payments		941.5	934.0
		OASI	798.7	791.1
		DI	142.8	142.9
	Railroad Retirement transfer		4.5	4.5
	Administrative expenditures		6.5	6.2
Asset reserves, end of period			2,891.8	2,889.5
a Less than $50,000,000.
Note: Totals may not equal the sums of rounded components.