Editing Supplemental Security Income (section)

==History==
{{see also|Presidency of Richard Nixon#Welfare}}

The legislation creating the program was a result of President [[Richard Nixon]]'s effort to reform the nation's welfare programs. At that time, each state had somewhat different programs under the Aid to the Blind, Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled, and Aid to the Elderly. These programs, which received federal funding, were created as part of the original Social Security Act of 1935. The Nixon administration thought these programs should be federalized and run by the Social Security Administration. Thus, SSI was created to eliminate the differences between the states including different disability standards and income and resources requirements, which many perceived as irrational or unfair.<ref>{{Cite web|title=History of the SSI program|url=https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/ssi_asr/2019/background.html|website=www.ssa.gov}}</ref> President Nixon signed the Social Security Amendments of 1972 on October 30, 1972, which created the SSI Program. 

The SSI program officially began operations in January 1974 by federalizing states' programs, designating the Social Security Administration (SSA) to administer the SSI program. SSA was selected because it had been administering a nationwide adult disability program under the Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits (DIB) program since 1956 for workers who are insured through their payroll deduction under the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance ([[OASDI]]) programs associated with Federal Insurance Contributions Act ([[FICA]]) payroll taxes.

The initial benefit levels for SSI in 1972 were approximately the same as the average monthly benefit as a retired worker under the Social Security retirement benefits program. In August 1974, Congress established legislation to automatically increase SSI benefits by the same percentage and at the same time as Social Security retirement, survivors, and disability benefits.<ref name="Schieber, Sylvester J. 2008">Schieber, Sylvester J. & others. Social Security Advisory Board. 2008.''Statement on the Supplemental Security Income Program.'' Washington, D.C.: ssab.gov</ref>{{fcn|reason=Citing a website, needs URL|date=October 2023}} In 2020, the maximum SSI benefit for an individual ($783) was about 52 percent of the average monthly benefit of retired workers ($1,503) in the Social Security retirement benefits program.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Annual Statistical Supplement, 2020, Tables 2.B1 and 5.A1.1|url=https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/|website=www.ssa.gov}}</ref> Although both Social Security and SSI benefits are adjusted for price inflation, initial Social Security benefits are computed by using wage indexing.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Annual Statistical Supplement, 2020, p. 11|url=https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/|website=www.ssa.gov}}</ref> Because wages tend to grow faster than prices, the maximum SSI benefit will continue to decline relative to benefit levels in the Social Security program.

The maximum SSI benefit in 2020 for an individual ($783) is below the federal poverty standard for an individual in the United States (about $1,084 per month).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Annual Statistical Supplement, 2020, Tables 2.B1 and 3.E1|url=https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/|website=www.ssa.gov}}</ref> Because both the SSI amount and the poverty standard are indexed to price inflation, this will continue to be true in the future, in the absence of legislative changes. With SSI income and other sources of family income, about 42 percent of persons on SSI are poor.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jeffrey Hemmeter and Michelle Stegman Bailey, Characteristics of Noninstitutionalized DI and SSI Program Participants, 2013 Update|url=https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/rsnotes/rsn2015-02.html|website=www.ssa.gov}}</ref>

Historians Edward D. Berkowitz and Larry DeWitt argue that, while "critics often accused the U.S. social welfare system of skewing benefits toward the middle class, rather than the truly needy", SSI successfully targeted benefits to economically vulnerable groups such as minorities.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Berkowitz |first1=Edward D. |title=The Other Welfare: Supplemental Security Income and U.S. Social Policy |last2=DeWitt |first2=Larry |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |year=2013 |isbn=978-0801451737 |pages=125–159 |chapter=5: The Continuing Disability Review: How the Politics of Controversy Hindered the Program}}</ref> In 2020, African Americans made up about 28 percent<ref>{{Cite web|title=Annual Statistical Supplement, 2020, Table 3.C7a|url=https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/2020/3c.html#table3.c7a|website=www.ssa.gov}}</ref> of the adult SSI population (about 13.4 percent<ref>{{Cite web|title=United States Census Bureau Quick Facts|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219|website=www.census.gov}}</ref> of the overall U.S. population is African American). Among SSI recipients 75 or older, 18 percent are Asian American, 20 percent are African American, and 20 percent are Hispanic.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Annual Statistical Supplement, 2020, Table 3.C7a and 3.C8|url=https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/2020/3c.html#table3.c7a|website=www.ssa.gov}}</ref>

Disabled children have been categorically eligible for SSI since the program's beginning. ''[[Sullivan v. Zebley]]'' was a landmark Supreme Court decision in 1990 that led to additional children qualifying for SSI based on disability. Brian Zebley had brain damage at birth, resulting in mental and physical problems including visual problems and partial paralysis.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Berkowitz |first1=Edward D. |title=The Other Welfare: Supplemental Security Income and U.S. Social Policy |last2=DeWitt |first2=Larry |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |year=2013 |isbn=978-0801451737 |pages=160–184 |chapter=6: The Courts and the Other Source of Program Growth: How the Program Expanded in a Conservative Age}}</ref> The Supreme Court found that SSA improperly denied him benefits and concluded that SSA must consider how health impairments affect functioning in children when making disability decisions. A study in 2020 found that, relative to other children, SSI child beneficiaries have "high rates of poverty, near poverty, material hardship, hospitalization, mortality, and adverse schooling outcomes".<ref>{{Cite web|title=David Weaver, Supplemental Security Income and Children|url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3517480|website=papers.ssrn.com| date=10 January 2020 | ssrn=3517480 | last1=Weaver | first1=David }}</ref> A study in 2019 found that infant mortality rates for SSI child applicants are about five times that of all children.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jeffrey Hemmeter and Paul S. Davies, Infant Mortality Among Supplemental Security Income Applicants|url=https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v79n2/v79n2p51.html|website=www.ssa.gov}}</ref>

Although there are some exceptions, generally individuals must reside in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, or the Northern Mariana Islands to receive SSI benefits. The Northern Mariana Islands became a U.S. territory in 1976 (after the SSI program began) and the covenant establishing its territorial status included eligibility for SSI.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, Appendix A: Social Welfare Programs in the Territories|url=https://greenbook-waysandmeans.house.gov/2018-green-book/appendix-a-social-welfare-programs-in-the-territories|website=greenbook-waysandmeans.house.gov}}</ref> The territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are eligible for federal grants to support the "aged, blind, and disabled" but residents are not eligible for SSI. In April 2022, the Supreme Court ruled (in ''[[United States v. Vaello Madero]]'') that it is constitutional to exclude residents of Puerto Rico from the SSI program, as the territory does not pay most federal taxes.<ref>{{Cite web|title=U.S. Supreme Court declines to extend federal benefits to Puerto Rico|url=https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/us-supreme-court-declines-to-extend-federal-benefits-to-puerto-rico/ar-AAWrTth?ocid=uxbndlbing|website=Reuters}}</ref><ref>[https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-303_6khn.pdf Court document] supremecourt.gov</ref>

For adults who are married, SSA will sometimes pay a benefit based on a couple amount. This would occur if both members of a couple meet the categorical requirements of eligibility (for example, both members of the couple are disabled according to the program's definition of disability). In these cases, the benefit payable to a couple is smaller than the combined benefits payable to two individuals in order to take account of the fact that two people living together can live more economically than if each lived alone. However, the reduced SSI couple benefit applies only to those who are legally married, which gives beneficiaries an incentive not to marry.<ref name="Schieber, Sylvester J. 2008" />