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Population Profiles
- Child Beneficiaries
& Poverty - Fully Insured
Workers - Marital Status
& Poverty - Middle Class
Beneficiaries - Never
Beneficiaries - Taxable Maximum
Earners - Veteran
Beneficiaries
Child Beneficiaries a & Poverty
Released: March 2015
- At the end of 2013, 3.2 million children received Social Security benefits, about 6 percent of all beneficiaries. b
- Without Social Security benefits, more than twice as many child beneficiaries (approximately 750,000 children) would be living below the poverty level.
- Social Security is a major source of income for children whose insured parents die, become disabled, or retire.
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Category | Poverty rate (percent) |
---|---|
With Social Security benefits | 14.0 |
Without Social Security benefits | |
Excluding child benefits | 25.5 |
Excluding adult benefits | 26.7 |
Excluding adult and child benefits | 38.2 |
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Beneficiary type | Income from child benefits | Income from all benefits (adult and child) |
---|---|---|
All child beneficiaries | 22.0 | 38.3 |
Children of deceased workers | 30.1 | 37.8 |
Children of disabled workers | 17.0 | 37.1 |
Children of retired workers | 20.2 | 44.1 |
SOURCE: Social Security Administration (SSA) calculations of 2009 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) data matched to SSA administrative data (most recent data available).
NOTE: Methodology adopted from Tamborini, Christopher R., and Emily Cupito. 2012. “Social Insurance and Children: The Relationship Between Social Security, Economic Well-Being, and Family Context among Child Recipients.” Journal of Children and Poverty, 18(1): 1–22.
a. Minor children of insured workers, excludes disabled adult children and students.
b. Social Security Administration, Annual Statistical Supplement, 2014, Table 5.A6.