The Social Security Administration’s October 2019 SSD benefits statistics report is now available. But what do these updated statistics mean for people like you and me? We’ll explain how beneficiary numbers and payment amounts changed within the last 30 days. We analyze these reports so disability recipients can compare their monthly checks to the national average. We’ll include both Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program data in our report below.
October 2019 SSD Benefits Statistics Update
Total Number of Social Security Disability Beneficiaries: 9,967,000
Disabled Workers: 8,418,000
Spouses of Disabled Workers: 114,000
Children of Disabled Workers: 1,435,000
Average Monthly Social Security Disability Benefit Amount: $1,104.67
Disabled Workers: $1,237.74
Spouses of Disabled Workers: $355.55
Children of Disabled Workers: $383.68
How the October 2019 SSD Benefits Statistics Report Affects Beneficiaries
Every beneficiary category shrank except one in the October 2019 SSD benefits statistics report. Today, 2,000 more children get SSD payments than we saw in September’s report. Spousal beneficiaries lost 1,000 claimants in October, the smallest drop over the previous 30 days. About 15,000 fewer disabled workers received benefits in October. Overall, this brought the total number of Social Security disability recipients down by 13,000:
Interestingly, the last time we saw this few children receiving SSD payments was October 1997! Back then, the average child’s payment totaled just $196.36/month.
October 2019 SSD Benefits Statistics: Looking Deeper at the Monetary Stats
Every single group listed in the October 2019 SSD benefits statistics report got a small raise this month. The smallest pay bump went to spousal beneficiaries, who received $.54 more in October. Children got another $1.30 added to this month’s checks, and disabled workers’ checks went up $1.24, on average. All these small raises managed to bring the total average payment nationwide up another $.90 compared to September’s report.
However, the 1.6% COLA payment increase won’t show up until January 2020’s report comes out.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Data in the October 2019 Report
Now, let’s review SSI beneficiary data from the October 2019 SSD benefits statistics report. There are 19,000 fewer total SSI beneficiaries total than we noted last month. Every age group (except the 65+ category) in the October 2019 SSD benefits statistics report lost beneficiaries. Here are those latest SSI numbers:
Total SSI beneficiaries: 8,082,000 (-19,000)
Children under 18 receiving SSI: 1,131,000 (-7,000)
SSI recipients aged 18-64: 4,661,000 (-15,000)
SSI recipients aged 65+: 2,290,000 (+3,000)
The October 2019 SSD benefits statistics report also shows that everyone on SSI got a raise this month — except children. Average SSI payments averaged across all age groups rose $.28 since September. SSI beneficiaries aged 18-64 got paid $1.86 more in October compared to last month. Older Americans aged 65 and up added another $.88 to this month’s checks. But minor children younger than 18 saw a significant cut to October’s SSI benefit checks. According to the October 2019 SSD benefits statistics report, children getting SSI received a $6.07 pay cut.
You May Qualify for Legal Assistance
Legal assistance from a Social Security attorney makes you 3x more likely to get approved the first time you apply. Depending on where you live, it can also get your first disability check paid up to two years sooner! Right now, the SSA denies at least 4 in every 5 first-time applicants (81%). The average disability claim processing time nationwide is currently 500 days, or 1.5 years.
All disability attorneys offer contingency-based legal assistance. That means until the government approves your disability claim, you owe nothing for professional help. In other words, you’ll owe that attorney $0 for legal assistance if the SSA won’t award you benefits. And if you do win benefits, then you’ll only pay a small, one-time fee.
Ready to see if you may qualify? Click the button below to start your free disability benefits evaluation now!
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Lori Polemenakos is Director of Consumer Content and SEO strategist for LeadingResponse, a legal marketing company. An award-winning journalist, writer and editor based in Dallas, Texas, she's produced articles for major brands such as Match.com, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, Xfinity, Mail.com, and edited several published books. Since 2016, she's published hundreds of articles about Social Security disability, workers' compensation, veterans' benefits, personal injury, mass tort, auto accident claims, bankruptcy, employment law and other related legal issues.