U.S. Social Security Administration

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.

The Food Stamp Program (FSP) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are important parts of national public assistance policy, and there is considerable overlap in the populations that the programs serve. About half of all SSI recipients reside in FSP recipient households.

In this summary, we present the key findings from seven studies in the seventh and final Ticket to Work (TTW) evaluation report.  These studies compare TTW program experiences before and after we implemented the revised regulations, extend prior analyses of the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) program, and update the general employment efforts of working-age SSI and DI beneficiaries.  Three of the four TTW-focused studies assess the experiences of employment networks (EN) and beneficiaries after we implemented the revised TTW regulations, and a fourth re-estimates the impact o

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is conducting the Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) as part of a broader initiative to encourage disability beneficiaries to return to work. The demonstration provides youth ages 14 through 25 with employment-related services and waivers of certain rules governing the Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance programs, including childhood disability benefits. The waivers augment existing financial incentives for beneficiaries to work.

In recent years there has been renewed interest in the United States in the definition and measurement of poverty. In early 1992, the Committee on National Statistics of the National Academy of Sciences began a 30 month study requested by Congress that includes an examination of statistical issues involved in measuring and understanding poverty. Some 2 years earlier, in January 1990, the Administration had approved an initiative on improving the quality of economic statistics. The current poverty measure was one of several dozen statistical series examined as part of that initiative.

Out-of-pocket medical costs are concentrated at the end of life. At the same time, poverty is three to four times more common among elderly widows than among similarly aged married women. When the possible relationship between these two facts are explored, out-of-pocket medical spending in the months before death is found to be large relative to income and could thus negatively affect the financial well-being of the surviving spouse.

Fast Facts & Figures answers the most frequently asked questions about the programs SSA administers. It highlights basic program data for the Social Security (retirement, survivors, and disability) and Supplemental Security Income programs. Most of the data come from the Annual Statistical Supplement to the Social Security Bulletin, which contains more than 240 detailed tables. The information on the income of the aged is from the data series Income of the Population 55 or Older. Data on trust fund operations are from the 2013 Trustees Report. (author abstract)

In July 2008, we implemented regulation changes to the Ticket to Work (TTW) program to increase the financial incentives for service providers to participate in the program. This report compares the characteristics and outcomes of two groups of TTW participants – those who assigned their Tickets before we implemented the revised regulations, and those who assigned their Tickets after.

This report presents a profile of all working-age (age 18 to 64) SSI and DI beneficiaries. It is the second in a series of reports that make up the fifth Ticket to Work evaluation report. The report focuses on selected personal characteristics, activities, and outcomes closely associated with employment.

The Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) is a large - scale demonstration and evaluation sponsored by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to improve understanding of how to help youth with disabilities reach their full economic potential. In particular, SSA is interested in testing promising approaches for helping young people with disabilities become more self - sufficient and less reliant on disability benefits.