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