Statistics

SOURCES

  • The average monthly Social Security benefit paid to retired workers in 2008 is $1,083.00, or $12,996.00 a year.

The average monthly Social Security benefit paid to widows, widowers, and dependent parents of deceased workers is $1023.70, or $12,284.40 per year.

The average monthly Social Security benefit paid to disabled workers is $1,004.30, or $12,051.60 per year.

(U.S. Social Security Administration, Office of Policy, "Monthly Statistical Snapshot, April 2008," Table 2.)

     

  • The federal minimum wage is $5.85 per hour. Assuming that there are 2080 work hours in a year (40 hours per week x 52 weeks per year), a worker making the federal minimum-wage would earn $12,168 in one year.

(U.S. Department of Labor, Employment Standards Administration, Wage and Hour Division, "Compliance Assistance — Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).")

Some states and local jurisdictions have their own minimum wage laws, which pay more. For example, the minimum wage in California is $8.00 per hour, or $16,640 a year. In the District of Columbia it is $7.00 per hour, or $14,560 a year.

     

  • Social Security replaces 43 percent, slightly more than two-fifths, of the amount that someone retiring at normal retirement age in 2006 (age 65 and 8 months) was earning before retirement.

(Social Security Administration, The 2006 OASDI Trustees Report, Appendices, Table VI.F10: "Estimated Annual Scheduled Benefit Amounts for Retired Workers With Various Pre-Retirement Earnings Patterns Based on Intermediate Assumptions, Calendar Years 2006-80," updated May 1, 2006.)

 

 

  • In 2006, half of Americans age 65 and over who had income from financial assets received less than $1,685 a year in income from those assets.

In 2006, 47 percent of Americans age 65 and over received no income at all from financial assets.

(Congressional Research Service, Income and Poverty Among Older Americans in 2006, Table 1. "Percentage of Older Americans with Income in 2006, Mean and Median Amounts, by Source," p. CRS-4 (p. 8 of the PDF), September 24, 2007.)

According to the Social Security Administration's Income of the Population 55 or Older, 2004, the median income from assets for "aged units" is $1,200 (Table 5.D1, "Percentage distribution of recipient units, by marital status, sex of nonmarried persons, and age, 2004"). An "aged unit" is defined as either a married couple living together in which at least one of the two is 65 or older or a nonmarried person 65 or older.

 

  • In 2006, half of all Americans age 65 and older received less than $16,890 in income from all sources.

The median annual income for men 65 and older was $23,419; for women 65 and older, it was $13,440.

(Congressional Research Service, Income and Poverty Among Older Americans in 2006, Table 1. "Percentage of Older Americans with Income in 2006, Mean and Median Amounts, by Source," p. CRS-4 (p. 8 of the PDF), and Figure 6. "Median Income in 2006 by Demographic Group", p. CRS-7 (p. 11 of the PDF), September 24, 2007.)

 

  • Median income of "aged units" with only Social Security is $14,558. Median income of "aged units" with Social Security and a private pension is $28,410. Median income of "aged units" with both Social Security and a federal government pension is $36,717. Median income of "aged units" with both Social Security and some other type of pension (state or local government, military) is $36,775.

An "aged unit" is defined as either a married couple living together in which at least one of the two is 65 or older or a nonmarried person 65 or older.

(Social Security Administration, Income of the Population 55 or Older, 2004, Table 3.6: "Number and median income of those receiving retirement benefits, by marital status and receipt of earnings and income from assets, 2004," May 2006.)

 

  • This figure includes public and private pensions. In 2004, the median pension income for people age 65 and older was $9,600.

(Congressional Research Service, Topics in Aging: Income of Americans Age 65 and Older, 1969 to 2004, Table 9. "Percentage of People Age 65 and Older with Income from Each Source," p. CRS-18 (p. 22 of the PDF), April 20, 2006.)

 

  • This figure includes $5.842 trillion in private pension assets, $3.152 trillion in state and local government pension assets, and $1.197 trillion in federal government pension assets.

(Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Flow of Fund Accounts of the United States, Tables L.118-120, pp. 75-76 (pp. 18-19 of the PDF), March 6, 2008.)

 

  • The federal tax expenditure for pensions in 2006 is estimated to be $104 billion. This figure includes the revenue lost to the U.S. Treasury from employer contributions to both public and private pension plans. It does not include Individual Retirement Accounts and Keogh Plans, which are estimated to cost an additional $20.6 billion in foregone revenue in 2006. All taxpayers effectively pay for the tax subsidy to encourage retirement savings through higher taxes or fewer government services.

(Joint Committee on Taxation, U.S. Congress, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2006-2010, Table 1 - "Tax Expenditure Estimates by Budget Function, Fiscal Years 2006-2010," p. 40 (p. 43 of the PDF), April 25, 2006.)