How Many SSI Recipients Live with Other Recipients?

by
Policy Brief No. 2004-03 (released June 2004)

The data presented in this Policy Brief are from Melissa Koenig and Kalman Rupp, "SSI Recipients in Households and Families with Multiple Recipients: Prevalence and Poverty Outcomes," forthcoming in Social Security Bulletin vol. 65 (2004). The results are based on Survey of Income and Program Participation files from March 1996, January 1998, and December 1998 matched to Social Security Administration administrative records.


This brief was prepared by Susan Wilschke of the Social Security Administration's Office of Disability and Income Assistance Policy.

Questions about the analysis should be directed to her at 202-358-6275.

The findings and conclusions presented in this brief are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Social Security Administration.

The Office of Policy recently completed an analysis of the prevalence of multirecipient households in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. The study was based on Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) data for December 1998 matched to administrative records from the Social Security Administration (SSA).

The study found that roughly 30 percent of individuals receiving SSI benefits lived in the same household with at least one other SSI recipient.1 That estimate is substantially higher than was previously thought. Earlier estimates were based on SSA's administrative records alone, which contain limited information about other members of a recipient's household. SIPP, however, provides detailed information about household composition and income.

The 30 percent of SSI recipients living in multirecipient households can be divided into two groups—married couples and other, noncouple multirecipients. As shown in Chart 1, married couples account for approximately 9 percent of all recipients. The married classification is important because these SSI couples receive a benefit rate that is equal to 1.5 times the benefit rate for an individual, and there is a unique set of issues concerning their status.2 This policy brief, however, focuses primarily on the 21 percent who live in noncouple multirecipient households—such as a disabled parent and child or two disabled siblings—and provides information on their age, the size of their household, and their poverty status.

Chart 1.
SSI recipients, by type of household
Pie chart with tabular version below.
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Table equivalent for Chart 1 SSI recipients, by type of household
Type of household Percent
One recipient 70
Married couple 9
Other multirecipients 21
 
SOURCE: Melissa Koenig and Kalman Rupp, "SSI Recipients in Households and Families with Multiple Recipients: Prevalence and Poverty Outcomes," Social Security Bulletin 65 (forthcoming), Table 1; Social Security Administration, SSI Annual Statistical Report, 2002 (Washington, DC: Office of Policy, Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics, 2003), Table 11.

Age and Household Composition

As Chart 2 shows, 21 percent of all SSI recipients, not including married couples, live in multirecipient households.

Chart 2.
Percentage of SSI recipients in each age group who live in a noncouple multirecipient household
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Table equivalent for Chart 2 Percentage of SSI recipients in each age group who live in a noncouple multirecipient household
Age group Percent
All ages 21.00
Under 18 38.00
18–64 22.00
65 or older 12.00
 
SOURCE: Melissa Koenig and Kalman Rupp, "SSI Recipients in Households and Families with Multiple Recipients: Prevalence and Poverty Outcomes," Social Security Bulletin 65 (forthcoming), Table 1.
Table 1. Percentage distribution of SSI recipients in multirecipient households, by number of recipients in household and age
Number of recipients Total Under 18 18 to 64 65 or older
Two 80 74 78 87
Three 15 19 15 13
Four or more 5 7 7 1
SOURCE: Author's calculations based on data set used for Melissa Koenig and Kalman Rupp, "The Poverty Status of Different Types of Multirecipient Households: Is SSI Fair to Married Couples?" Paper presented at the 2002 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Atlanta, GA (2002).

Economic Status

SSI recipients who live alone have high rates of poverty, with nearly 80 percent having household income below the poverty threshold, as shown in Chart 3. Married couples in which both members receive SSI have higher rates of poverty (44 percent) than do married couples with one spouse receiving SSI (38 percent). It is also interesting to compare two-person households consisting of two married recipients with those consisting of two nonmarried recipients. The nonmarried recipients have significantly lower rates of poverty (10 percent). Households with two to five members and more than one SSI recipient tend to have slightly lower rates of poverty than do households of that size with only one SSI recipient.

Chart 3.
Percentage of SSI recipients in poverty, by household size and number of SSI recipients in household
Bar chart with tabular version below.
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Table equivalent for Chart 3 SSI recipients in poverty, by number of persons and recipients in household and poverty measure used (in percent)
Persons in household One recipient Two or more
recipients
1 79.7 . . .
2 married 37.5 43.9
2 nonmarried 30 9.6
3 23.4 22.6
4 25.2 19.7
5 31.6 24.5
6 25.4 26.7
7 20.8 26.2
8 or more 42.9 39.9
NOTE: . . . = not applicable.
SOURCE: Melissa Koenig and Kalman Rupp, "The Poverty Status of Different Types of Multirecipient Households: Is SSI Fair to Married Couples?" Paper presented at the 2002 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Atlanta, GA (2002), Table 10.

Data and Policy Implications

Although this brief has focused on multirecipient households, another important part of the story involves recipients living in households with nonrecipients. All SSI recipients can enjoy economies of scale by living with another person. This is the case for both one-recipient and multirecipient households. As seen in Chart 3, SSI recipients who live with at least one other person have lower household poverty rates than recipients who live alone. In addition, three points should be noted about the results presented here.

Notes

1 The estimate of 30 percent is the most recent estimate available. There is no reason to conclude that the percentage has changed substantially since then.

2 See Richard Balkus and Susan Wilschke, Treatment of Married Couples in the SSI Program, Issue Paper No. 2003-01 (Washington, DC: Social Security Administration, Office of Policy, December 2003).