Congressional Statistics, December 2011

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. A worker's lifetime covered earnings largely determines the amount of benefits received.

Table 1. Number of OASDI beneficiaries in current-payment status and total monthly benefits, December 2011
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 and parents Spouses a Children b All beneficiaries Retired workers Widow(er)s and parents
Puerto Rico 821,419 401,414 177,166 80,098 69,124 93,617 623,071 329,980 57,224 488,353
All areas c 55,404,480 35,599,569 8,575,544 4,398,094 2,455,822 4,375,451 62,213,382 43,736,668 5,041,881 38,292,328
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Master Beneficiary Record, 100 percent data.
a. These beneficiaries receive payment on the record of a worker who is retired or disabled.
b. These beneficiaries receive payment on the record of a worker who is retired, deceased, or disabled.
c. 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.