There will be an average monthly benefit for all Social Security recipients in 2022 of $1,657 due to the cost of living adjustment (COLA).
When a single average is used to represent the entire population, there is a great deal of nuance that is missing.
It was thus decided to look at the amount of Social Security benefits people are receiving based on a variety of populations and benefits, rather than just a single average.
More than 65 million people in total are receiving this type of assistance. Of those, the vast majority receive Old-Age and Survivors Insurance, which covers the spouses and children of people who have retired from their day jobs.
Those with disability insurance make up a smaller portion of the population and may include their spouses and children.
Benefits will rise for 2022 under the Social Security Administration (SSA), but GOBankingRates relied on data from the most recent SSA Monthly Statistics Snapshot released in November 2021.
In other words, the snapshot numbers don’t include the COLA for 2022.
Also Read: Social Security: Increasing your Monthly Payments by Delaying your claim.
Retirement and Surviving Benefits
Old-Age and Survivors Insurance provides benefits to the vast majority of Social Security recipients. Almost 86% of Social Security recipients and just under 56 million people fall into this category.
Since there are so many people who qualify for Old-Age and Survivors Insurance, the monthly payout totals more than $83 billion. In the United States, the average monthly stipend is $1,490.85.
Even so, it’s possible that this number isn’t specific enough. We’ll be looking at retired workers, which is a subset of all retirement benefits since that’s what most of us are interested in.
There were 47,248,000 retired workers receiving nearly $74 billion each month as of the November 2021 snapshot, according to the census. In total, each employee will receive an average monthly benefit of $1,563.82.
Including spouses and children of retired workers lowers the average for everyone. Retirement benefit recipients’ spouses can receive “as much as half” of the worker’s primary insurance amount, which accounts for 3.3 percent of all recipients.
In total, spouses receive $1.73 billion in monthly benefits or an average of $793.59 per couple.
Those receiving survivor benefits are also included in this group, in addition to those receiving pensions.
Many distinct groups receive this benefit, despite the fact that the total number of recipients is only 5.86 million. Survivor benefits total $7.3 billion in payouts, with an average monthly benefit of $1,250.46.
Beneficiaries of a survivor program may include any of the following groups:
- Children of workers who have perished
- The plight of widowed women and men
- Widows and widowers who are not disabled
- Widows and widowers who have become disabled
- The families of workers who have died
In terms of survivor benefits, children of deceased workers and non-disabled widow(er)s are the two groups that get the most attention. 3 percent of beneficiaries are children of deceased workers, and they each receive an average of $923.05.
Every month, $1.8 billion is paid out in compensation. Social Security pays an average monthly benefit of $1,467.14 to 5,5% of all beneficiaries who are not disabled widows. A total of $5.2 billion is paid out each month.
Also Read: What If Your Retirement Isn’t Covered by Social Security? What You Need to Do Now
Disability Insurance
The Social Security Administration also distributes Disability Insurance benefits. More than 9 million people in the United States are part of this group, despite the fact that it is much smaller. SSI and SSDI are part of the disability insurance package.
There are two separate programs in the Social Security Administration, but the medical requirements are the same for both of them.
The average monthly disability insurance benefit is $1,154.07 when all benefits are taken into account. Only 14.2% of Social Security recipients fall into this category, whereas 85.8% of those receiving Old-Age and Survivors Insurance do.
Those who are disabled and their families are covered by disability insurance. The average monthly benefit for disabled workers is $1,282.39, by far the highest of any group.
They also make up the majority of those receiving disability insurance, making up 12.1% of all those receiving Social Security benefits.
They receive $10.1 billion per month in salary and other benefits.
Most of the rest goes to the children of disabled workers, accounting for just 1.9 percent of all recipients. Each month, they receive $504 million in benefits, an average of $403.37 per person.
Only 0.1 percent of Social Security recipients are married couples. There is a total payout of $35 million, with a monthly benefit of $357.24.