Monthly Statistical Snapshot, November 2008

Table 1.
Number of people receiving Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, or both, November 2008
(in thousands)
Type of beneficiary	Total	Social Security only	SSI only	Both Social Security and SSI
All beneficiaries	55,718	48,184	4,895	2,639
Aged 65 or older	36,674	34,634	877	1,163
Disabled, under age 65 ^a	12,105	6,612	4,018	1,475
Other ^b	6,938	6,938	. . .	. . .


SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Master Beneficiary Record, 100 percent data. Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
NOTES: Data are for the end of the specified month. Only Social Security beneficiaries in current-payment status are included.
. . . = not applicable.
a. Includes children receiving SSI on the basis of their own disability.
b. Social Security beneficiaries who are neither aged nor disabled (for example, early retirees, young survivors).
CONTACT: Art Kahn (410) 965-0186 or ssi.monthly@ssa.gov for further information.

Table 2.
Social Security benefits, November 2008
Type of beneficiary	Beneficiaries		Total monthly benefits (millions of dollars)	Average monthly benefit (dollars)
Type of beneficiary	Number (thousands)	Percent	Total monthly benefits (millions of dollars)	Average monthly benefit (dollars)
All beneficiaries	50,823	100.0	50,629	996.20
Old-Age Insurance
Retired workers	32,249	63.5	35,128	1,089.30
Spouses	2,383	4.7	1,278	536.20
Children	522	1.0	280	536.00
Survivors Insurance
Widow(er)s and parents ^a	4,394	8.6	4,523	1,029.20
Widowed mothers and fathers ^b	160	0.3	127	790.30
Children	1,905	3.7	1,341	704.00
Disability Insurance
Disabled workers	7,376	14.5	7,408	1,004.30
Spouses	153	0.3	41	269.00
Children	1,681	3.3	504	299.60
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Master Beneficiary Record, 100 percent data.
NOTES: Data are for the end of the specified month. Only beneficiaries in current-payment status are included.
Some Social Security beneficiaries are entitled to more than one type of benefit. In most cases, they are dually entitled to a worker benefit and a higher spouse or widow(er) benefit. If both benefits are financed from the same trust fund, the beneficiary is usually counted only once in the statistics, as a retired-worker or a disabled-worker beneficiary, and the benefit amount recorded is the larger amount associated with the auxiliary benefit. If the benefits are paid from different trust funds the beneficiary is counted twice, and the respective benefit amounts are recorded for each type of benefit.
a. Includes nondisabled widow(er)s aged 60 or older, disabled widow(er)s aged 50 or older, and dependent parents of deceased workers aged 62 or older.
b. A widow(er) or surviving divorced parent caring for the entitled child of a deceased worker who is under age 16 or is disabled.
CONTACT: Hazel P. Jenkins (410) 965-0164 or oasdi.monthly@ssa.gov for further information.

Table 3.
Supplemental Security Income recipients, November 2008
Age	Recipients		Total payments ^a (millions of dollars)	Average monthly payment ^b (dollars)
Age	Number (thousands)	Percent	Total payments ^a (millions of dollars)	Average monthly payment ^b (dollars)
All recipients	7,534	100.0	3,820	477.30
Under 18	1,152	15.3	681	567.10
18–64	4,341	57.6	2,332	492.40
65 or older	2,040	27.1	808	394.60
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
NOTE: Data are for the end of the specified month.
a. Includes retroactive payments.
b. Excludes retroactive payments.
CONTACT: Art Kahn (410) 965-0186 or ssi.monthly@ssa.gov for further information.