Social Security Works For America

In honor of the 75th anniversary of Social Security, we are kicking off a blog series called "Social Security Works." Every post will examine one aspect of how Social Security works.

For our first installment we will examine how Social Security works for America as a whole.

Since President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act at approximately 3:30pm on August 14, 1935, it has provided economic security for millions of Americans.

Currently, the Social Security Administration provides benefits to:

• More than 52.5 million total beneficiaries including:
       • 9.7 million disabled persons under age 65 and dependent family members
       • 6.4 million survivors of deceased workers
       • 36.4 million retired workers and their families

The graph below shows the number of people receiving Social Security benefits at the end of calendar quarters, beginning with data for March 1970.

To these millions of beneficiaries Social Security has paid out trillions of dollars:

• In 2008 the Social Security Administration distributed benefits totaling a little over a trillion dollars
• Since 1937, over $15 trillion has been paid out to beneficiaries

But the truly remarkable thing is that while providing trillions in economic security to millions of Americans, the Social Security program has built up a huge surplus. The graph below shows the build up of $2.5 trillion in assets since 1987.

By 2023, the surplus is estimated to grow to $4.3 trillion.

There is no Social Security crisis; Social Security works for America.

This blog series is a joint project of America's Future and Social Security Works.

Also posted at The Seminal and Daily Kos

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future