47.5 million people receive Social Security benefits today. This includes 33 million who receive retirement benefits; 7 million surviving spouses and children; ands 8 million disabled workers and their dependents. 57% of adult Social Security beneficiaries are women while over 150 million American workers are earning Social Security coverage and paying Social Security payroll taxes.
Social Security will pay an estimated $612 billion in benefits next year. The average monthly benefit for a retired worker is $922; for a retired couple it is $1,523; for a surviving spouse it is $888 and for a surviving spouse and two children it is $1,441. Almost all retired Americans receive Social Security benefits, which provides 38% of their total income. Employer pensions provide about 10% of the income of retired Americans. Most employer pensions are not indexed to inflation, which means their real value declines over time. The proportion of all retirees covered by an employer pension plan is declining. A growing number of retirees have income from assets, such as 401(k) accounts, but such income is subject to market fluctuations and is not guaranteed against inflation like Social Security benefits with the annual cost of-living adjustment (COLA).
The U.S. government's official estimates for Social Security are historically more pessimistic about the future of the American economy than the estimates the government uses to project Federal budget revenues and expenditures. In March 2004, the Social Security Board of Trustees announced that the Trust Fund can pay full benefits through 2042 the same as predicted last year. The Congressional Budget Office projects that Social Security will be solvent even longer - to 2052.
Social Security provides at least half of the total income of 64% of aged beneficiaries, and is the only source of income for 20% of the aged. Without Social Security, nearly half of aged beneficiaries would be in poverty. The poorest Social Security beneficiaries are generally older women, particularly minority widows.
Social Security has consistently been the most successful government program in history and must continue to be so. That is why the SMWIA supports programs to strengthen rather than gradually weaken it through misguided prvatization attempts.