Congressional Statistics, December 2009

Puerto Rico

Social Security

Old-Age (retirement), Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI)—popularly referred to as Social Security—provides monthly benefits to an eligible worker and family members when the worker elects to start receiving retirement benefits or when the worker 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 current-payment status and total monthly benefits, December 2009
Congressional district Number of beneficiaries Total monthly benefits
(thousands of dollars)		 Number of beneficiaries
aged 65 or older
Total Retired workers Disabled workers Widow(er)s a Spouses b Children c All beneficiaries Retired workers Widow(er)s a
Puerto Rico 776,374 377,817 159,775 80,547 68,043 90,192 554,150 293,619 54,455 458,866
All areas d 52,522,819 33,514,013 7,788,013 4,488,492 2,501,723 4,230,578 55,905,731 39,020,920 4,893,329 36,594,122
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Master Beneficiary Record, 100 percent data.
a. 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.
b. These beneficiaries receive payment on the record of a worker who is retired or disabled.
c. These beneficiaries receive payment on the record of a worker who is retired, deceased, or disabled.
d. Includes beneficiaries in the 50 states, District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S. 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 U.S. Virgin Islands. These programs are administered at the federal level by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.