Social Security

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

A. Beneficiaries in Current-Payment Status, December 31, 2018

Type of benefit			Number of beneficiaries [In thousands]	Monthly rate a [In millions]	Average monthly amount a
Total			62,906	$84,420	b
	Retired workers and their family members, total		46,803	66,197	b
		Retired workers	43,721	63,891	$1,461
		Spouses	2,392	1,825	763
		Children	690	481	697
	Survivors of deceased workers, total		5,940	7,075	b
		Children	1,911	1,691	885
		Widowed mothers and fathers with child beneficiaries in their care	121	122	1,007
		Aged widow(er)s, and aged parents	3,654	5,072	1,388
		Disabled widow(er)s	255	190	747
	Disabled workers and their family members, total		10,162	11,148	b
		Disabled workers	8,537	10,532	1,234
		Spouses	119	42	350
		Children	1,507	574	381
a Benefit amounts represent the monthly amount due to beneficiaries in current-payment status for December 31, 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, December 31, 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		9,919	$11,634
Children (OASDI)		4,108	2,746
	Student children	122	94
	Disabled children aged 18 and over	1,127	911
	Children under age 18	2,858	1,741
Survivor children and widowed mothers and fathers		2,031	1,812
Beneficiaries aged 62 and over (OASDI)		52,122	73,872
Beneficiaries aged 65 and over (OASDI)		47,159	67,838
a Benefit amounts represent the monthly amount due to beneficiaries in current payment status for December 31, 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, December 31, 2018

Selected family a group	Number of families [In thousands]	Average family benefit b	Average number of beneficiaries per family
Retired worker alone	40,890	$1,448	1.000
Retired worker and spouse, aged 62 and over	2,228	2,448	2.000
Disabled worker, spouse under full retirement age, and 1 or more children	42	2,126	3.932
Widowed parent and 2 children	36	2,830	3.000
Children of deceased workerc	1,227	1,146	1.313
Aged widow(er) alone	3,474	1,386	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, 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 177 million people will work in OASDI-covered employment in 2019.

   We estimate that 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, 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 2018 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 2018 can count on monthly cash benefits if they suffer a severe and prolonged disability.

 

E. Operations of OASI and DI Trust Funds, Combined, in 2018
[In billions]

			Calendar year	Fiscal year
Income			$1,003.4	$992.7
	Payroll tax contributions		885.1	873.2
	Reimbursement from General Revenue		a	a
	Taxation of benefits		35.0	35.7
	Interest and other income		83.3	83.8
Expenditures			1,000.2	988.0
	Total benefit payments		988.6	976.7
		OASI	844.9	833.0
		DI	143.7	143.6
	Railroad Retirement transfer		4.9	4.9
	Administrative expenditures		6.7	6.4
Asset reserves, end of period			2,894.9	2,894.2
a Less than $50,000,000.
Note: Totals may not equal the sums of rounded components.