New Types of Benefits, September 1950–June 1951
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as 6 quarters of covered employment; Table I.-Number and average monthly amount of new types of benefits the granting of wage credits for World awarded in specified periods, by type of benefit, September 1950-June 1951 War II military service; and the pro- [Corrected to Dec. 4, 19511 vision for payment of a lump sum on the death of any insured worker. Period The new benefit formula established Type of bellefit T&al Sept.-Dec. 1950 Jan.-Mar. 1951 Apr.-June 1951 by the amendments for future benefi- - ciaries will not become effective, how- Average Average Average ever, until April 1952. The expansion Number monthly Number monthly Number monthly of coverage, also, will have little ef- amount amount amount fect until that time, since newly cov- -I- Wife’s I- __ ..- . ..____. 9,646 $13.06 9,811 $14.8i $16.37 ered workers cannot obtain insured Husband%. _-__. ______ % :: 812 19.97 1,218 19.38 18.90 Widower’s- _._________ 32.59 63 37.23 82 32.04 28.91 status before then. It is estimated that, Mother’s a- _. .____.__ 35.74 12 37.29 23 40.04 33.46 as a result of these two factors, the - I amount of survivor insurance protec- I Under age 65. 2 Pormer wife divorced. tion will be increased by about one- third. Thus, at the beginning of 1953 resulted from a concentrated effort by average age of the children was higher the amount of survivor protection will the Bureau of Old-Age and Survivors at the time of the wife’s award than be $255-280 billion, on the basis of the Insurance in the preceding quarter at the time the children were first gross estimates, and $225-250 billion to notify potential claimants of their awarded benefits. A wife under age 65 on the basis of the net estimates. The rights under the new provisions and is more likely to have her benefit with- importance of old-age and survivors thus help them to avoid loss of bene- held because she is working in covered insurance in the national economy is fits. Under the new law a claimant employment than a wife aged 65 or indicated by the fact that these totals filing application before April 1951 over, since it is easier for a younger will about equal the amount of life could, if eligible, receive benefits be- woman to find employment. Then, too, insurance in force now held in all ginning with September 1950. the average age of husbands of women private insurance organizations com- By the end of June 1951, one-fifth of under age 65 who are entitled to wife’s bined. the benefits awarded in the preced- benefits is lower than the average ing 10 months to wives under age 65 age for all married men with wives en- New Types of Benefits, had been terminated or suspended. titled to wife’s benefits; these younger Entitled children of retired workers men are more likely to have jobs that September 195Q-June 1951 are, on the whole, older at the time of cause suspension of the wife’s benefit. Two new types of benefits-hus- award than entitled children of de- At the end of June 1951, about band’s and widower%-were added to ceased workers. Since benefits to a 25,000 wives under age 65 were receiv- the old-age and survivors insurance wife under age 65 terminate when no ing monthly benefits averaging $14.42 program by the 1950 amendments to child under age 18 is entitled to bene- (table 2). This low average benefit the Social Security Act; the eligibil- fits, the period during which the wife was due chiefly to reduction in amount ity provisions for two others-wife’s receives benefits may be of relatively because of the maximum family bene- and mother’s insurance benefits-were short duration. This is particularly fit provisions. A reduction is necessary broadened. Preliminary data on these true in the case of wife’s benefit awards in families with a wife and one child types of monthly benefits awarded in families where children were on the entitled if the old-age benefit is during September-December 1950 rolls before September 1950, since the $20.10-55.90, and in families with a were presented in the May 1951 issue wife and more than one child entitled, of the BULLETIN (page 25). Revisions Table 2. -Number and average regardless of the old-age benefit monthly amount of new types of in those figures and preliminary data benefits in current-payment status amount. Since the old-age benefit is for January-June 1951 are shown at the end of the month, by Qpe of never reduced, the reduction neces- below. benefit, December 1950 and June sary to keep the sum of the benefits Wife’s and mother’s benefits.-The 1951 payable to the family from exceeding amendments provide for payment of [Corrwled to 1kC.4, 19511 the statutory maximum is made only benefits to the wife of an old-age in- At end of in the wife’s and child’s benefits. surance beneficiary when she is under I Under the broadened eligibility pro- age 65 if she has a child beneficiary in Decernher 1950 June 1951 visions for mother’s insurance bene- her care. Monthly benefit awards to Typr of hcnefit __~- fits, the “former wife divorced” of an wives in this group totaled almost Num. Average insured deceased worker is eligible for 1monthly 32,000 in the 10 months ended June 30, brr anount monthly benefits if she was receiving 1951 (table 1). Many of these awards -. at least half of her support from him were made to wives of retired workers Wife’s I...... 5,865 $12.85 24.959 $14.42 at the time of his death and is the Husband’s~~.... 797 20.01 2, ,331) 19.X who had become entitled to old-age Widower’s_---.- 63 37.23 161 29.83 mother of his entitled child. More benefits before the 1950 amendments Mother’s 2. ..___ 12 37.29 73 3s. 47 benefits (52) were awarded to divorced were enacted. The larger number of wives in the April-June 1951 quarter 1 Under age 65. awards in the April-June 1951 quarter 2 Former wile divorced. than in the preceding 7 months. At 18 Social Security the end of June 1951 about 70 divorced died (after August 1950) may qualify Since widower’s benefits are pay- wives were receiving benefits at an at or after age 65 for monthly benefits able only with respect to deaths after average monthly rate of $35.47. on his wife’s record. Awards to de- August 1950, no backlog of potentially Husband3 and widower’s benefits.- pendent husbands reached a peak of eligible widowers comparable to that The dependent husband, or the de- 1,200 in the January-March 1951 quar- for dependent husbands was estab- pendent widower, of a wage earner ter; by the end of June, 2,850 benefits lished by the amendments. At the end who was both fully and currently in- had been awarded and about 2,400 of June about 175 widowers were re- sured when she became entitled to husbands were receiving monthly ceiving benefits: the average monthly old-age insurance benefits or when she benefits averaging $19.60. amount was $30.45. SOCIAL SECURITY IN REVIEW imposition in October of a blanket $6 in Georgia, the average per family (Continued from page 2) lien on the real property of recipients. for aid to dependent children more The largest change in aid to depend- than $5 in Florida, and that for gen- about 80 percent of the total number ent children, a 5.8-percent decrease in eral assistance cases about $8 in of employees of nonprofit organiza- Florida, continued a reduction that Louisiana. Missouri increased its pay- tions eligible for coverage. had started in July and that, by Oc- ments to blind recipients from $40 to tober, amounted to more than a fourth $50 as of October 8, when its plan for THE TOTAL number of persons aided of the June caseload. This reduction, aid to the blind was approved for Fed- under the public assistance programs caused by a drastically reduced ap- eral participation. continued to drop in October. De- propriation, was effected by restrict- creases of nearly 13,000 in old-age as- ing eligibility due to the incapacity or INITIAL CLAIMS for benefits under the sistance and of 29,000 in aid to de- absence of a parent and requiring State unemployment insurance sys- pendent children far outweighed the mothers of deserted or abandoned tems, in a reversal of the downward increases of about 1,200 in the number children to take court action against movement of the two preceding of individuals helped through pay- the persons liable for their support. months, showed a seasonal increase in ments of aid to the permanently and The cost of assistance rose from October of 24.3 percent. In the first totally disabled and of about 2,000 in September to October for each of the October increase since 1946, weeks of the number getting general assistance. programs except aid to dependent unemployment claimed, which repre- Recipients of aid to the blind remained children; the total for the five pro- sent continued unemployment, moved almost the same in number as in Sep- grams, $189.7 million, was 0.7 per- upward 9.5 percent. On an average tember. cent higher than in September.