For many retired Americans, Social Security isn’t just another paycheck — it’s a financial foundation to stand on. According to data from the Social Security Administration (SSA), more than 61 million people were receiving Social Security payouts as of March, and two-thirds of these recipients were retired workers.
Of these 41.6 million retired workers, more than 25 million rely on their monthly benefits check to account for at least half of their monthly income. In plainer terms, without Social Security, we’d probably see the poverty rate for seniors head significantly higher.