Ending Hunger in America, 2014 Hunger Report Full Report | Page 32

According to the Social Security Administration, Social Security is not careening toward bankruptcy as some of the program’s critics allege.29 With minor adjustments to its financing structure, the program will be able to meet its full obligations for the foreseeable future. In 2012, Social Security paid an average benefit of $1,262 a month to 36.7 million retirees.30 Some seniors receive less than $800 per month, however, as a result of having paid less into the Social Security system before retirement—either because they worked Figure i.9 Close to Two-Thirds of SNAP Recipients are Children, for a shorter period of time, or they Elderly, or Disabled earned less in their peak earning years. Seniors usually need to Non-elderly, supplement Social Security income non-disabled adults with personal savings, pensions, or income from other assets, but millions don’t have these sources at all Children 36% 45% or get very little from them. People who are low-income at the time they retire generally remain low-income 19% throughout retirement. It is hard to overstate how important Social Security has been Elderly/disabled to reducing poverty in America. The program originated in the 1930s, but it was not until the 1960s and reforms during the War With Children 22% on Poverty that the program came to resemble what it is now. Before the 1960s, one in three seniors in Without Children 14% the United States was living in poverty, the highest percentage of any major demographic group. By the 1970s, senior poverty had plummeted; in fact, seniors were the Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (2013). CBPP analysis of U.S. Department of Agriculture SNAP Household Characteristics data. group with the lowest poverty rate. Today, poverty is rising among seniors faster than for any other group. Two reasons for this are that the baby boom generation is retiring at the rate of 10,000 people per day,31 and that people are living longer and having to pay higher medical costs. Since 2000, medical conditions have been the leading cause of personal bankruptcies.32 Medicare and Medicaid, established during the 1960s, have saved countless lives and reduced the hardships of poverty for more people than we can accurately estimate. Together, these two programs plus the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), come close to matching the cost of Social Security. The three combined cost $732 billion in 2012.33 Medicaid is exclusively for very low-income people, while Medicare is a social insurance program, a supplement to Social Security for seniors and disabled people. 22?Introduction n Bread for the World Institute