Women aged 65 or older receiving SSI payments, December 1996

Older women who, even if they do receive Social Security benefits, are still eligible for Supplemental Security Income payments are certainly among the most vulnerable segments of our society. At the end of 1996, there were more than 1.5 million such women aged 65 or older who were receiving SSI payments. It is likely that these women have been poor for much of their lives, as they appear to become eligible for SSI before or close to their 65th birthday. These women represent 23 percent of the SSI caseload, and 8 percent of all women aged 65 or older in the country; almost one-third are aged 80 or older. In addition to the health limitations that accompany increasing age, about a third of these women appear to have been blind or severely disabled for many years, and had been receiving SSI even before they reached age 65. Their SSI payments averaged $237 per month ($137 if they also received Social Security, $394 if they did not). Sixty-three percent of the SSI population who were women aged 65 or older were also getting a Social Security benefit averaging $356 per month, but other than Social Security, they had almost no cash income. A few of these women were institutionalized, and almost 1 out of five reported owning their own home. Approximately half lived alone, and another 20 percent lived with only one other person. Of women aged 65 or older receiving SSI payments, 1 in 5 was not a U.S. citizen, and this group was even less likely to have Social Security benefits, or any other cash income. As a result, their SSI payments were higher. Data are not yet available to judge the impact of the complex series of changes made to SSI eligibility for noncitizens by legislation enacted in 1996 and 1997.