Congressional Statistics, December 2015

Puerto Rico

Social Security

Old-Age (retirement), Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI)—popularly referred to as Social Security—provides monthly benefits to an eligible worker and family members when the worker elects to start receiving retirement benefits or when the worker dies or becomes disabled. A worker's lifetime covered earnings largely determine the amount of benefits received.

Table 1. Number of OASDI beneficiaries in current-payment status and total monthly benefits, December 2015
Congressional district Number of beneficiaries Total monthly benefits (thousands of dollars) Number of beneficiaries aged 65 or older
Total Retired workers Disabled workers Widow(er)s and parents Spouses a Children b All beneficiaries Retired workers Widow(er)s and parents
Puerto Rico 842,927 445,673 173,131 76,865 68,737 78,521 700,656 399,445 59,726 540,279
All areas c 59,963,425 40,089,061 8,909,430 4,190,676 2,477,567 4,296,691 73,642,029 53,790,278 5,194,659 43,243,199
SOURCES: Social Security Administration, Master Beneficiary Record, 100 percent data; and U.S. Postal Service geographic data.
a. These beneficiaries receive payment on the record of a worker who is retired or disabled.
b. These beneficiaries receive payment on the record of a worker who is retired, deceased, or disabled.
c. Includes beneficiaries in the 50 States, District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and foreign countries.

Supplemental Security Income

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federal cash assistance program that provides monthly payments to low-income aged, blind, or disabled persons in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The former federal-state programs of Old-Age Assistance, Aid to the Blind, and Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled still operate in Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These programs are administered at the federal level by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.