Social Security Income SSI

This program has its origins in the original Social Security Act of 1935. The Act established an old-age insurance program and a means-tested assistance program that provided a safety net for individuals who were either ineligible for Social Security or whose benefits could not provide a basic level of income.
The means-tested assistance (Old-Age Assistance, Aid to the Blind, and Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled) were essentially State programs despite substantial Federal financing.
However, beginning in the 1960s, this welfare system received criticism for widely different state eligibility requirements and payment levels. Other criticisms centered on provisions that required certain relatives to bear responsibility for the maintenance of needy family members.
SSI was created in 1972 to replace the previous patchworked system of federal grants created to aid the aged, blind, or disabled. The grants were intended to supplement the incomes of individuals who were ineligible for Social Security or whose benefits could not sustain basic living.
The program also “reversed” federal and state roles with regard to adult assistance. In other words, SSI would provide a uniform Federal income amount while optional State programs supplemented that amount.
Since its launch in 1974, SSI has guaranteed a minimum level of income to those who qualify.

Recipients must have little or few monetary assets (less than $2,000 in assets for individuals and less than $3,000 in assets for couples)
Recipients must be blind or severely disabled (any age) or be at least 65 years in age

5,402,000 people received SSI payments in July 2019. The majority of recipients were under the age of 65 (see chart.)
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 86% of all SSI recipients were eligible because of a disability rather than their age.
*NOTE: Originally, SSI was designed primarily to help the elderly rather than people with disabilities. The program’s shift in focus occurred in response to SSI eligibility expansions implemented by Congress in 1984 and by a 1990 Supreme Court decision.
The number of participants receiving SSI has decreased. In 2017, 9,126,207 people received monthly SSI payments. 4

For FY 2017, the total SSI annual payment was $54,516,335. This included $2,649,530 in federally administered state supplementation*.
- *This refers to the federally-recommended amount that states pay as a supplement to their federally-received SSI funds.
- In 2017, the full monthly SSI benefit was $735 for an individual and $1,103 for a couple.
- Half of all SSI recipients receive this full benefit because they have no other income.
- The average benefit in 2017 for persons aged 18-64 receiving benefits on the basis of disability was $681.90.

According to the CBPP, in 2017, SSI payments lifted 1.4 million children and 15 million elderly individuals out of poverty in 2017.
SSI recipients who have other sources of income or live in Medicaid facilities with assistance receive a smaller benefit.
In nearly all states, SSI beneficiaries also receive Medicaid to pay for medical expenses
The Social Security Administration estimates that SSI payments lower the poverty rate of recipients from 63% to 42%.

SSI benefits provide enough income to bring an individual to roughly 3/4 of the poverty line. -This is a problem because so many SSI recipients have no other source of income
Consequently, 42% of individuals on SSI were below the poverty line even after their SSI payments
Restrictions prevent many documented immigrants from being eligible to receive SSI payments.