Congressional Statistics, December 2004

Puerto Rico

Social Security

Old-Age (retirement), Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI)—popularly referred to as Social Security—provides monthly benefits to workers and their families when earnings stop or are reduced because the worker retires, dies, or becomes disabled. The amount of benefits received is based on the worker's level of earnings in employment or self-employment covered by the Social Security program.

Table 1. Number of OASDI beneficiaries in Puerto Rico with benefits in current-payment status and total monthly benefits, December 2004
Congressional district Number of beneficiaries Total monthly benefits
(thousands of dollars)		 Number of beneficiaries aged 65 or older
Total Retired workers a Disabled workers Widow(er)s b Spouses c Children d All beneficiaries Retired workers Widow(er)s b
Puerto Rico 708,619 329,779 134,747 81,127 64,921 98,045 404,667 209,611 44,740 405,569
All areas e 47,687,693 29,952,474 6,198,271 4,828,972 2,721,657 3,986,319 41,574,348 28,601,332 4,329,336 33,696,001
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Master Beneficiary Record, 100 percent data.
a. Includes special age-72 beneficiaries.
b. Includes nondisabled widow(er)s, disabled widow(er)s, widowed mothers and fathers, and parents receiving payment on the record of a worker who is deceased.
c. These beneficiaries receive payment on the record of a worker who is retired or disabled.
d. These beneficiaries receive payment on the record of a worker who is retired, deceased, or disabled.
e. Includes beneficiaries in the 50 states, District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and foreign countries.

Supplemental Security Income

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federal cash assistance program that provides monthly payments to low-income aged, blind, or disabled persons in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The former federal-state programs of Old-Age Assistance, Aid to the Blind, and Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled still operate in Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. These programs are administered at the federal level by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.