2008 Annual Report of the SSI Program

Table of Contents Previous Next Tables Figures

 
D. FEDERAL SSI PAYMENTS AS A PERCENTAGE OF GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT
For SSI, an appropriate relative measure of program costs is produced by comparing estimated annual SSI costs to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)1. In addition to providing an inflation-independent measure of the cost of the SSI program, this provides a useful perspective on the proportion of the total output of the U.S. economy needed to provide Federal SSI benefits. As is shown in table IV.D1 and figure IV.D1, the total cost of the SSI program is projected to be relatively constant through 2013 and then decline after­wards, relative to GDP.
Table IV.D1 and figure IV.D1 present a concise summary of Federal expenditures under the SSI program. Following the initial higher costs of the program, total Federal SSI payments during the 1980s were a fairly constant percentage of GDP (0.21 percent). During the early 1990s, SSI experienced rather rapid growth (to 0.34 percent of GDP in 1996) due to a combination of factors discussed earlier in section IV. Legislation enacted in 19962 resulted in a drop in the cost of SSI as a percentage of GDP beginning in 1997 and continuing through 2000. The share of GDP devoted to Federal SSI expenditures increased slightly after the turn of the century in part in response to a slowdown in economic growth over that period, but resumed its very gradual downward trend after 2002 due to relatively slower growth in SSI participation. In the future, Federal SSI expenditures, after adjusting for growth in prices, are projected to grow slightly faster than the population due to some estimated growth in the SSI recipient population as a percentage of the overall U.S. population, as discussed previously in section IV.C. However, since the real growth projected for GDP under the 2008 Trustees Report intermediate assumptions is greater than the effect of these projected increases in SSI participation, Federal SSI payments are projected to decline as a percentage of GDP over the next 25 years, reaching 0.25 percent of GDP by 2032.
 
 
GDP1
(In billions)
75 or
older
75 or
older
Blind or
disabled

1
Projected values based on the intermediate economic assumptions of the 2008 OASDI Trustees Report.

Note: Totals do not necessarily equal the sums of rounded components. Historical GDP amounts subject to revision.
 

1
The total value of goods and services produced in the United States.

2
Public Law 104-121 and Public Law 104-193.


Table of Contents Previous Next Tables Figures
SSA Home | Privacy Policy | Website Policies & Other Important Information | Site Map | Actuarial Publications May 30, 2008