Social Security Keeps 20 Million Americans Out of Poverty: A
State-By-State Analysis August 11, 2010 Social Security benefits
play a vital role in reducing poverty. Without Social Security,
according to the latest available Census data (for 2008), 19.8
million more Americans would be poor. Although most of those
kept out of poverty by Social Security are elderly, nearly a
third are under age 65, including 1.1 million children. (See
Table 1.) Depending on their design, reductions in Social
Security benefits could significantly increase poverty,
particularly among the elderly. |TABLE 1: | Effect of Social
Security on Poverty, 2008 |Age Group||Percent in Poverty||Number
Lifted Out of Poverty by Social Security| |Children Under
18||20.5||19.0||1,117,000| |Adults Aged
18-64||14.5||11.7||5,281,000| |Elderly Aged 65 and
Over||45.2||9.7||13,410,000| |Total, All
Ages||19.8||13.2||19,808,000| |Women Aged 65 and
Over||49.7||11.9||8,120,000| |Source: Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities based on data from the U.S. Cens