- Social Security
- What is Social Security?
- Who Pays for Social Security?
- Who Gets Social Security?
- What is the Social Security Retirement Age?
- How Do Benefits Compare to Earnings?
- The Role of Benefits in Income and Poverty
- Where Do Social Security Taxes Go?
- Social Security's Future Finances
- Public Opinions on Social Security
- How Will Boomers Affect Social Security?
- Social Security as a Share of the Economy
- Options to Balance Social Security Finances
- Proposals for Private Accounts
- Children's Stake in Social Security
- Social Security and People of Color
- Women's Stake in Social Security
- Social Security, Marriage, and Divorce
- Social Security for Widowed Spouses in Retirement
- What is Social Security Disability Insurance?
- Key Dates in the History of Social Security
- Social Security: Just the Facts on Finances, Benefits, and Public Opinion
- About the Social Security Section of this Sourcebook
Browse by Topic
Social Security: Just the Facts Video
Have you seen our video, “Social Security: Just the Facts?” Click here to learn more and find additional resources for exploring each topic in more depth.
Print Entire Section
What is Social Security?
Social Security is the foundation of economic security for millions of Americans—retirees, disabled persons, and families of retired, disabled or deceased workers. About 157 million Americans pay Social Security taxes and 56 million collect monthly benefits in 2012. About one household in four receives income from Social Security.
Social Security is largely a pay-as-you-go program. This means that today's workers pay Social Security taxes into the program and money flows back out as monthly income to beneficiaries. As a pay-as-you-go system, Social Security differs from company pensions, which are “pre-funded.” In pre-funded retirement programs, the money is accumulated in advance so that it will be available to be paid out to today's workers when they retire. The private plans need to be funded in advance to protect employees in case the company enters bankruptcy or goes out of business.
The average Social Security benefit in January 2012 was:
- $1,230 a month for retired workers;
- $1,185 a month for widows or widowers over the age of 60;
- $1,110 a month for disabled workers;
- $1,878 a month for a disabled worker, spouse and one or more young children;
- $2,487 a month for a widowed mother and two children.
The maximum Social Security benefit for a worker retiring at the 2012 full retirement age (66) is $2,366 a month.
For more information, see:
- Social Security: Just the Facts (video)
- Social Security Benefits, Finances, and Policy Options: A Primer
- Social Security Finances: Findings of the 2012 Trustees Report, Social Security Brief No. 39
- Demystifying Social Security (video)
- A Young Person's Guide to Social Security
- Quick Answers to Common Questions about Social Security
- Social Security at 75: A Cornerstone of America's Future (video)
- Sharing Risks in a New Era of Responsibility, Health and Income Security Brief No. 13
- Why Social Insurance, Social Security Brief No. 6
Read what some NASI members think:*
- Jasmine Tucker: "Thankful for Three Key Social Insurance Programs That Kept More Than 24.0 Million Americans Out of Poverty in 2010” (2011)
- Alicia H. Munnell: "A Bright Light in a Dismal Landscape” (2009)
* The views of NASI members are their own and not an official position of the National Academy of Social Insurance or its funders.
