Stats On Children Receiving SSI

Social Security's Office of Policy has released a compilation of statistical information on children receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Here are a few excerpts:

In December 2006, almost 1,079,000 blind and disabled children were receiving SSI payments. They made up 14.9 percent of the more than 7 million SSI recipients. The data reflect an increase of more than 42,000 child recipients since December 2005. ...

In calendar year 2006, the most recent year for which complete data are available, the Social Security Administration (SSA) received almost 460,000 SSI applications for children. This represents 17 percent of the more than 2.6 million SSI applications received during that period.

More than 170,000 children were awarded SSI payments in calendar year 2006. This was more than 20 percent of the 838,000 persons awarded SSI in that period.

Historically, the percentages of both applications and awards for children have gradually increased. Both rates rose rapidly in the early to mid-1990s, after the Sullivan v. Zebley decision. They dropped off somewhat after welfare reform legislation was enacted in 1996. The number of applications for children has continued to increase since then, but their percentage share of all applications has gradually decreased. Both the number and percentage of awards for children steadily increased for several years following welfare reform, but there was a slight decrease in the number in 2005 and 2006 and in the percentage of all awards in 2004, 2005, and 2006. ...

In addition to the almost 1,079,000 recipients who are currently considered as children for program purposes, the SSI rolls in December 2006 included almost 731,000 adult recipients who first became eligible for SSI payments before age 18. Twenty percent of these recipients first became eligible during the 1974–1980 period and thus have been receiving SSI for much of their lives.