SSI: trends in state supplementation, 1979-81

In December 1979, the number of persons receiving State supplementary payments under the Supplemental Security Income Program for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled totaled 1,942,000. By December 1981, the number totaled 1,875,000--a decline of 67,000 or 3 percent. This decrease paralleled the reduction in the number of persons receiving Federal Supplemental Security Income payments, which dropped from 3,687,000 to 3,590,000 or 3 percent during the 3-year period. Changes also occurred in the distribution of persons by eligibility category. The number of persons eligible because of age declined 9 percent, from 823,000 to 745,000; persons eligible because of blindness increased 1 percent, from 41,000 to 42,000; and persons eligible because of disability increased 1 percent, from 1,076,000 to 1,086,000. In contrast to the trend in the State supplementation caseload, expenditures for State supplementary payments continued to increase as they have since the beginning of the Supplemental Security Income program.