Social Security Reduces Poverty

From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

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. ...

TABLE 1: Effect of Social Security on Poverty, 2008
Age Group	Percent in Poverty		Number Lifted Out of Poverty by Social Security
	Excluding Social Security	Including 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
Memorandum:
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. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, March 2009.