Skip to content
Social Security Online		 Actuarial Publications
www.socialsecurity.gov
Home | FAQs | Contact Us | Text Size
 
Actuarial Publications SSA logo: link to Social Security Online home

Social Security Program Fact Sheet

Beneficiary data

Family benefit data

Trust fund data

Our semi-annual Fact Sheet on the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Program provides recent information on the number of beneficiaries and their average benefit amount, measures of protection provided by Social Security, and trust fund financial data. The latest Fact Sheet is shown below.

To print the Fact Sheet, we recommend the PDF version (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader or similar reader).

 other publications

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

A. Beneficiaries in Current-Payment Status, December 31, 2011

Type of benefit Number of
beneficiaries
[In thousands]		 Monthly
rate
[In millions]		 Average
monthly
amount
Total 55,404 $62,213 a
 Retired workers and their family members, total 38,485 45,486 a
  Retired workers 35,599 43,736 $1,229
  Spouses 2,291 1,392 607
  Children 594 358 603
 Survivors of deceased workers, total 6,305 6,536 a
  Children 1,907 1,494 783
  Widowed mothers and fathers with child beneficiaries in their care 158 139 884
  Aged widow(er)s, and aged parents 3,990 4,726 1,185
  Disabled widow(er)s 251 177 704
 Disabled workers and their family members, total 10,614 10,192 a
  Disabled workers 8,576 9,524 1,111
  Spouses 164 49 299
  Children 1,874 619 330
a Since 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, 2011

Type of benefit Number of
beneficiaries
[In thousands]		 Monthly
rate
[In millions]
Disabled beneficiaries (OASDI)—Workers, disabled children aged 18 and over, and disabled widow(er)s 9,804 $10,390
Children (OASDI) 4,375 2,471
 Student children 153 101
 Disabled children aged 18 and over 977 690
 Children under age 18 3,245 1,680
Survivor children and widowed mothers and fathers 2,065 1,633
Beneficiaries aged 62 and over (OASDI) 43,771 52,098
Beneficiaries aged 65 and over (OASDI) 38,292 46,138

 

C. Average Monthly Family Benefits in
Current-Payment Status, December 31, 2011

Selected family a group Number of
families
[In thousands]		 Average
family
benefit		 Average
number of
beneficiaries
per family
Retired worker alone 32,921 $1,217 1.000
Retired worker and spouse, aged 62 and over 2,172 1,995 2.000
Disabled worker, spouse under full retirement age, and 1 or more children 72 1,885 3.972
Widowed parent and 2 children 49 2,505 3.000
Children of deceased workerb 1,162 1,022 1.321
Aged widow(er) alone 3,806 1,184 1.000
a A family means beneficiaries entitled on one worker's account.
b In most cases, the family includes a widowed parent whose benefits are withheld due to earnings.

 

D. Measures of Protection

  1. Coverage
    About 159 million people will work in OASDI-covered employment in 2012.

    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 December 31, 2011, about 89 percent of the population aged 65 and over were receiving benefits.

  3. Protection for survivors of young workers
    About 97 percent of persons aged 20-49 who worked in covered employment in 2011 have acquired survivorship protection for their children under age 18 (and surviving spouses caring for children under age 16).

  4. Disability protection
    About 91 percent of persons aged 21-64 who worked in covered employment in 2011 can count on monthly cash benefits if they suffer a severe and prolonged disability.

 

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

Calendar
year
2011		 Fiscal
year
2011
Income $805.1 $798.7
 Payroll Tax Contributions 564.2 579.1
 Reimbursement from General Revenue 102.7 80.6
 Taxation of Benefits 23.8 23.1
 Interest and Other Income 114.4 116.0
Expenditures 736.1 730.7
 Benefit payments 725.1 719.5
  OASI 596.2 591.5
  DI 128.9 128.0
 Railroad Retirement Transfer 4.6 4.6
 Administrative Expenditures 6.4 6.7
Assets, end of period 2,677.9 2,653.3
Note: Totals may not equal the sums of rounded components.

 USA.gov: U.S. Government portal Privacy Policy  | Website Policies & Other Important Information  | Site Map
Last reviewed or modified February 7, 2012