Social Security by the Numbers
This is a piece researched and written by Charles Hall earlier this year for the North Carolina Advocates for Justice magazine. While some statistics are clearly just for North Carolina, many of them apply to the country as a whole:
50.9 million — Number of Title II Social Security beneficiaries in December 2008 — about one in six Americans of all age
$2.54 trillion — Value of Social Security trust funds at the end of fiscal year (FY) 2009, the highest amount in history
461,000 — Increase in number of people living in poverty in NC alone if Social Security ended
0.6% — Social Security administrative expenses as a percentage of retirement benefits paid in 2009
44% — Percent of Social Security’s operating budget spent administering disability programs
2.4% — Social Security administrative expenses paid as a percentage of disability benefits paid in 2008
$27.2 billion — Cash workers compensation benefits paid nationally in 2007
$106.3 billion — Cash Social Security disability insurance benefits paid in 2008
7— Number of types of Social Security disability benefits (Disability Insurance Benefits, Disabled Widow and Widower Benefits, Disabled Adult Child Benefits, and Blindness Benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act; Adult Disability Benefits, Children’s Disability Benefits and Blind Benefits under Title XVI of the Social Security Act — Supplemental Security Income)
10,760,672 — Total number of persons receiving Title II Social Security disability benefits as of 2009
4 — Number of levels of administrative review at Social Security (initial, reconsideration, ALJ hearing, Appeals Council — cases may also be reviewed in the federal courts)
37% — Approval rate for Social Security disability claims at initial level
14% — Approval rate for Social Security disability claims at reconsideration level
63% — Administrative Law Judge approval rate for Social Security disability claims
1.1 million — Number of claimants who failed to appeal an initial denial of a Social Security disability claim in 2009
377— Average national processing time for a request for hearing on Social Security disability claim in days
$414,000 — Value of an approved Social Security disability claim if reduced to current value as of 2008, not counting value of Medicare
$3,551.21 — Average fee for attorney representing Social Security disability claimant in 2010
$1.32 billion — Amount of Social Security attorney fees paid nationally in 2010
38 — Number of attorneys certified by the NC State Bar as Social Security disability law specialists
570 — Number of cases disposed of by average Social Security ALJ in FY 2009
$236 million — Value of cases disposed of by average Social Security ALJ in FY 2009
60% — Percentage of those drawing SSI on account of disability who have a mental disorder
1295 — Number of Social Security ALJs as of August 2010
866 — Number of federal Article III judges authorized (District Court, Courts of Appeals, Supreme Court)
395 — Number of state court judges in NC as of June 2008 (District Court, Superior Court, Court of Appeals, Supreme Court)
609,538 — Number of Social Security ALJ dispositions in FY 2009
21% — ALJ allowance rate at most conservative fully operational hearing office within the United States in October 2010 (Shreveport, LA)
89% — ALJ allowance rate at most liberal fully operational hearing office within the United States in October 2010 (Brooklyn, NY)
61.3% — Percentage of Social Security disability claims approved after all appeals in 1999
55.9% — Percentage of Social Security disability claims approved after all appeals in 2008
7.6% — Percent of population drawing Social Security disability benefits in Alabama
2.6% — Percent of population drawing Social Security disability benefits in Utah
5.4% — Percent of population drawing Social Security disability benefits in NC
