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Supplemental Security Income
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a means-tested program that provides cash payments to disabled children, disabled adults, and individuals aged 65 or older who are citizens or nationals of the United States. SSI was created by the Social Security Amendments of 1972 and is incorporated in Title 16 of the Social Security Act. The program is administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and began operations in 1974.
Individuals or their helpers may start the application for SSI benefits by completing a short form on SSA's website. SSA staff will schedule an appointment for the individual or helper within one to two weeks and complete the process.
SSI was created to replace federal-state adult assistance programs that served the same purpose, but were administered by the state agencies and received criticism for lacking consistent eligibility criteria. The restructuring of these programs was intended to standardize the eligibility requirements and level of benefits. Although administered by SSA, SSI is funded from the U.S. Treasury general funds, not the Social Security trust fund. As of May 2025, the program provides benefits to over seven million Americans.
The legislation creating the program was a result of President Richard Nixon's effort to reform the nation's welfare programs. At that time, each state had somewhat different programs under the Aid to the Blind, Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled, and Aid to the Elderly. These programs, which received federal funding, were created as part of the original Social Security Act of 1935. The Nixon administration thought these programs should be federalized and run by the Social Security Administration. Thus, SSI was created to eliminate the differences between the states including different disability standards and income and resources requirements, which many perceived as irrational or unfair. President Nixon signed the Social Security Amendments of 1972 on October 30, 1972, which created the SSI Program.
The SSI program officially began operations in January 1974 by federalizing states' programs, designating the Social Security Administration (SSA) to administer the SSI program. SSA was selected because it had been administering a nationwide adult disability program under the Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits (DIB) program since 1956 for workers who are insured through their payroll deduction under the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) programs associated with Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) payroll taxes.
The initial benefit levels for SSI in 1972 were approximately the same as the average monthly benefit as a retired worker under the Social Security retirement benefits program. In August 1974, Congress established legislation to automatically increase SSI benefits by the same percentage and at the same time as Social Security retirement, survivors, and disability benefits.[full citation needed] In 2020, the maximum SSI benefit for an individual ($783) was about 52 percent of the average monthly benefit of retired workers ($1,503) in the Social Security retirement benefits program. Although both Social Security and SSI benefits are adjusted for price inflation, initial Social Security benefits are computed by using wage indexing. Because wages tend to grow faster than prices, the maximum SSI benefit will continue to decline relative to benefit levels in the Social Security program.
The maximum SSI benefit in 2020 for an individual ($783) is below the federal poverty standard for an individual in the United States (about $1,084 per month). Because both the SSI amount and the poverty standard are indexed to price inflation, this will continue to be true in the future, in the absence of legislative changes. With SSI income and other sources of family income, about 42 percent of persons on SSI are poor.
Historians Edward D. Berkowitz and Larry DeWitt argue that, while "critics often accused the U.S. social welfare system of skewing benefits toward the middle class, rather than the truly needy", SSI successfully targeted benefits to economically vulnerable groups such as minorities. In 2020, African Americans made up about 28 percent of the adult SSI population (about 13.4 percent of the overall U.S. population is African American). Among SSI recipients 75 or older, 18 percent are Asian American, 20 percent are African American, and 20 percent are Hispanic.
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Supplemental Security Income
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a means-tested program that provides cash payments to disabled children, disabled adults, and individuals aged 65 or older who are citizens or nationals of the United States. SSI was created by the Social Security Amendments of 1972 and is incorporated in Title 16 of the Social Security Act. The program is administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and began operations in 1974.
Individuals or their helpers may start the application for SSI benefits by completing a short form on SSA's website. SSA staff will schedule an appointment for the individual or helper within one to two weeks and complete the process.
SSI was created to replace federal-state adult assistance programs that served the same purpose, but were administered by the state agencies and received criticism for lacking consistent eligibility criteria. The restructuring of these programs was intended to standardize the eligibility requirements and level of benefits. Although administered by SSA, SSI is funded from the U.S. Treasury general funds, not the Social Security trust fund. As of May 2025, the program provides benefits to over seven million Americans.
The legislation creating the program was a result of President Richard Nixon's effort to reform the nation's welfare programs. At that time, each state had somewhat different programs under the Aid to the Blind, Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled, and Aid to the Elderly. These programs, which received federal funding, were created as part of the original Social Security Act of 1935. The Nixon administration thought these programs should be federalized and run by the Social Security Administration. Thus, SSI was created to eliminate the differences between the states including different disability standards and income and resources requirements, which many perceived as irrational or unfair. President Nixon signed the Social Security Amendments of 1972 on October 30, 1972, which created the SSI Program.
The SSI program officially began operations in January 1974 by federalizing states' programs, designating the Social Security Administration (SSA) to administer the SSI program. SSA was selected because it had been administering a nationwide adult disability program under the Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits (DIB) program since 1956 for workers who are insured through their payroll deduction under the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) programs associated with Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) payroll taxes.
The initial benefit levels for SSI in 1972 were approximately the same as the average monthly benefit as a retired worker under the Social Security retirement benefits program. In August 1974, Congress established legislation to automatically increase SSI benefits by the same percentage and at the same time as Social Security retirement, survivors, and disability benefits.[full citation needed] In 2020, the maximum SSI benefit for an individual ($783) was about 52 percent of the average monthly benefit of retired workers ($1,503) in the Social Security retirement benefits program. Although both Social Security and SSI benefits are adjusted for price inflation, initial Social Security benefits are computed by using wage indexing. Because wages tend to grow faster than prices, the maximum SSI benefit will continue to decline relative to benefit levels in the Social Security program.
The maximum SSI benefit in 2020 for an individual ($783) is below the federal poverty standard for an individual in the United States (about $1,084 per month). Because both the SSI amount and the poverty standard are indexed to price inflation, this will continue to be true in the future, in the absence of legislative changes. With SSI income and other sources of family income, about 42 percent of persons on SSI are poor.
Historians Edward D. Berkowitz and Larry DeWitt argue that, while "critics often accused the U.S. social welfare system of skewing benefits toward the middle class, rather than the truly needy", SSI successfully targeted benefits to economically vulnerable groups such as minorities. In 2020, African Americans made up about 28 percent of the adult SSI population (about 13.4 percent of the overall U.S. population is African American). Among SSI recipients 75 or older, 18 percent are Asian American, 20 percent are African American, and 20 percent are Hispanic.