Fast Facts & Figures About Social Security, 2009

Percentage of aged units receiving income, by source
Source of income 1962 2007
Social Security 69 87
Asset income 54 52
Private pensions 9 28
Government employee pensions 9 13
Earnings 36 25
SOURCES: Data for 1962 are from Social Security Administration, The Aged Population of the United States: The 1963 Social Security Survey of the Aged (1967). Data for 2007 are Social Security Administration calculations from the March 2008 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey.
NOTE: An aged unit is a married couple living together or a nonmarried person, which also includes persons who are separated or married but not living together.
Percentage distribution of aggregate income, by source, 1962 and 2007
Income source 1962 2007
Social Security 30 36
Earnings 28 29
Asset income 15 16
Private pensions 3 9
Government employee pensions 6 8
Other 16 3
SOURCES: Data for 1962 are from Social Security Administration, The Aged Population of the United States: The 1963 Social Security Survey of the Aged (1967). Data for 2007 are Social Security Administration calculations from the March 2008 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey.
NOTES: The unit of analysis is the aged unit, defined as a married couple living together or a nonmarried person, which also includes persons who are separated or married but not living together.
Totals do not necessarily equal the sum of rounded components.
Poverty status, by marital status, sex of nonmarried persons, race, and Hispanic origin, 2007
Characteristic Percent
poor		 Percent
near poor
All persons 9.7 6.4
By marital status
Married 4.2 3.6
Nonmarried men 12.2 8.3
Nonmarried women 17.6 10.4
By race and Hispanic origin
White alone a 8.1 6.1
Black alone a 23.2 9.7
Hispanic 17.1 11.0
SOURCE: Social Security Administration calculations from the March 2008 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey.
a. Current Population Survey respondents may identify themselves in more than one racial group. The "white alone" and "black alone" categories reflect respondents who reported only one race.
Percentage of population in the Social Security area fully insured and insured for disability benefits, by sex
Sex 1970 2008
Fully insured
Men 92 91
Women 63 84
Insured for disability a
Men 85 82
Women 41 76
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Office of the Chief Actuary.
NOTES: The population in the Social Security area includes residents of the 50 states and the District of Columbia adjusted for net census undercount; civilian residents of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands; federal civilian employees and persons in the armed forces abroad and their dependents; crew members of merchant vessels; and all other U.S. citizens abroad.
Figures are subject to revision.
a. Insured for disability excludes those over age 64.
New awards to retired and disabled workers (in thousands)
Year Retired
workers		 Disabled
workers
1968 1200.00 323.00
1969 1272.78 344.74
1970 1338.11 350.38
1971 1391.40 415.90
1972 1461.40 455.44
1973 1493.19 491.62
1974 1413.15 535.98
1975 1505.75 592.05
1976 1475.77 551.46
1977 1593.63 568.87
1978 1472.79 464.42
1979 1590.85 416.71
1980 1612.67 396.56
1981 1578.99 351.85
1982 1618.41 297.13
1983 1669.74 311.55
1984 1607.37 362.00
1985 1690.49 377.37
1986 1734.25 416.87
1987 1681.72 415.85
1988 1654.07 409.49
1989 1656.74 425.58
1990 1664.75 467.98
1991 1695.35 536.43
1992 1707.95 636.64
1993 1661.28 635.24
1994 1625.35 631.87
1995 1609.17 645.83
1996 1581.45 624.34
1997 1718.62 587.42
1998 1631.51 608.13
1999 1690.02 620.49
2000 1960.65 621.65
2001 1779.23 691.31
2002 1812.55 750.00
2003 1791.32 777.46
2004 1883.06 795.78
2005 2000.00 830.00
2006 1999.00 799.00
2007 2036.00 805.00
2008 2279.00 877.00
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Master Beneficiary Record, 100 percent data.
Average age of disabled and retired workers, selected years
Year Disabled
workers		 Retired
workers
1960 57.2 72.4
1965 54.7 72.5
1970 54.2 72.3
1975 53.8 72.3
1980 53.2 72.4
1985 52.1 72.8
1990 50.5 73.1
1995 49.8 73.6
2000 50.8 73.9
2005 51.8 73.9
2006 52.1 74.0
2007 52.4 74.0
2008 52.6 73.9
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Master Beneficiary Record, 10 percent sample for 1988 and 1990–2005 and 100 percent data for all other years.
Percentage distribution of adult beneficiaries by type of beneficiary, by sex, December 2008
Type of beneficiary Men Women
Retired workers 78 59
Disabled workers 19 13
Spouses of retired or disabled workers a 9
Widow(er)s and mothers a 17
Disabled adult children 2 1
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Master Beneficiary Record, 100 percent data.
NOTE: Totals do not necessarily equal the sum of rounded components.
a. Less than 0.5 percent.
Women as a percentage of retired worker and disabled worker beneficiaries, selected years
Year Retired
workers		 Disabled
workers
1940 11.6 --
1950 17.1 --
1957 -- 19.1
1960 35.3 21.8
1970 42.4 28.4
1980 46.5 32.6
1990 47.7 34.7
2000 48.2 43.3
2005 48.6 46.0
2006 49.0 46.0
2007 49.0 47.0
2008 49.0 47.0
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Master Beneficiary Record, 100 percent data.
NOTE: -- = not available.
Persons receiving federally administered SSI payments, December (in millions)
Year Total Under 18 18–64 65 or
older
1974 4.0 0.1 1.5 2.4
1975 4.3 0.1 1.7 2.5
1976 4.2 0.1 1.7 2.4
1977 4.2 0.1 1.7 2.4
1978 4.2 0.2 1.7 2.3
1979 4.1 0.2 1.7 2.2
1980 4.1 0.2 1.7 2.2
1981 4.0 0.2 1.7 2.1
1982 3.9 0.2 1.7 2.0
1983 3.9 0.2 1.7 2.0
1984 4.0 0.2 1.8 2.0
1985 4.1 0.2 1.9 2.0
1986 4.3 0.2 2.0 2.0
1987 4.4 0.3 2.1 2.0
1988 4.5 0.3 2.2 2.0
1989 4.6 0.3 2.3 2.0
1990 4.8 0.3 2.4 2.1
1991 5.1 0.4 2.6 2.1
1992 5.6 0.6 2.9 2.1
1993 6.0 0.7 3.1 2.1
1994 6.3 0.8 3.3 2.1
1995 6.5 0.9 3.5 2.1
1996 6.6 1.0 3.6 2.1
1997 6.5 0.9 3.6 2.1
1998 6.6 0.9 3.6 2.0
1999 6.6 0.8 3.7 2.0
2000 6.6 0.8 3.7 2.0
2001 6.7 0.9 3.8 2.0
2002 6.8 0.9 3.9 2.0
2003 6.9 1.0 4.0 2.0
2004 7.0 1.0 4.0 2.0
2005 7.1 1.0 4.1 2.0
2006 7.2 1.1 4.2 2.0
2007 7.4 1.1 4.2 2.0
2008 7.5 1.2 4.3 2.0
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record (Characteristic Record Extract format), 100 percent data.
NOTE: Totals do not necessarily equal the sum of rounded components.
Percentage distribution of SSI recipients, by age, December
Year Under 18 18–64 65 or
older
1974 1.8 37.6 60.6
1975 2.5 39.4 58.1
1976 3.0 40.5 56.6
1977 3.5 41.0 55.5
1978 3.9 41.4 54.6
1979 4.3 41.6 54.1
1980 4.6 41.8 53.6
1981 4.8 42.4 52.8
1982 5.0 42.9 52.1
1983 5.1 43.6 51.3
1984 5.3 44.2 50.6
1985 5.5 45.4 49.1
1986 5.6 47.1 47.3
1987 5.7 48.3 46.0
1988 5.7 49.3 44.9
1989 5.8 50.1 44.1
1990 6.4 50.9 42.7
1991 7.8 51.6 40.6
1992 10.0 52.3 37.7
1993 12.1 52.6 35.3
1994 13.4 53.0 33.7
1995 14.1 53.5 32.5
1996 14.4 54.0 31.6
1997 13.5 54.8 31.6
1998 13.5 55.5 31.0
1999 12.9 56.3 30.8
2000 12.8 56.7 30.5
2001 13.2 57.0 29.8
2002 13.5 57.1 29.4
2003 13.9 57.3 28.8
2004 14.2 57.5 28.3
2005 14.6 57.4 28.0
2006 14.9 57.4 27.7
2007 15.2 57.4 27.4
2008 15.3 57.6 27.0
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record (Characteristic Record Extract format), 100 percent data.
NOTE: Totals do not necessarily equal the sum of rounded components.
Percentage distribution of SSI recipients by sex, by age, December 2008
Age Men Women
All ages 44 56
Under 18 66 34
18–64 44 56
65 or older 32 68
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record (Characteristic Record Extract format), 100 percent data.
Percentage of SSI recipients with other income, by source and age, December 2008
Age OASDI Other
unearned
income		 Earnings
All ages 34.7 11.1 3.6
Under 18 7.2 19.5 0.2
18–64 31.7 7.6 5.6
65 or older 56.8 13.7 1.4
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record (Characteristic Record Extract format), 100 percent data.
Number and average monthly benefit for children receiving OASDI, by type of beneficiary, December 2008
Type of beneficiary Number
(thousands)		 Average
monthly
benefit
(dollars)
Children of retired workers 303 554
Children of disabled workers 1,607 311
Children of deceased workers 1,350 741
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Master Beneficiary Record, 100 percent data.
Number of children under age 18 receiving SSI, and average monthly SSI payment to children under age 18
Year Number of children
receiving SSI
(in thousands)		 Average monthly
SSI payment
(in percent) a
1974 70.90 109.15
1975 107.03 141.09
1976 125.41 154.24
1977 147.36 170.03
1978 165.90 171.72
1979 177.31 193.26
1980 190.39 219.08
1981 194.89 240.84
1982 191.57 263.22
1983 198.32 280.96
1984 211.59 292.86
1985 227.38 301.26
1986 241.20 321.34
1987 250.90 327.27
1988 255.14 343.24
1989 264.89 357.64
1990 308.59 403.72
1991 397.16 446.05
1992 556.47 610.98
1993 722.68 460.54
1994 841.47 448.07
1995 917.05 447.57
1996 955.17 442.01
1997 879.83 433.83
1998 887.07 441.75
1999 847.06 450.13
2000 846.78 463.05
2001 881.84 476.09
2002 914.82 487.73
2003 959.38 490.63
2004 993.13 505.98
2005 1036.50 522.80
2006 1079.00 542.00
2007 1121.00 555.00
2008 1153.80 561.00
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record (Characteristic Record Extract format), 100 percent data.
NOTE: SSI = Supplemental Security Income.
a. As of 1998, these figures exclude retroactive payments.