Elderly poverty and Supplemental Security Income, 2002–2005
The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program is the nation's safety net for the aged, blind, and disabled. SSI receipt is often not reported by individuals interviewed in the Current Population Survey (CPS), the statistical base for the Census Bureau's annual estimates of poverty rates. In an earlier article, we explored the effect on estimated poverty rates in 2002 of adjusting CPS income reports using administrative data on earnings and benefits from the SSI and Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance programs.