Policy Information Exchange

Social Security Is Critical To Economic Security For Wisconsin Seniors, New Data Show

Madison—As the debate over Social Security heats up throughout the nation, new data shed light on the pivotal importance of Social Security benefits to older Wisconsin residents.

The data are found in Social Security in Wisconsin at a Glance, a fact sheet released by the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) and the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

According to the data, 62 percent of Wisconsin seniors who receive Social Security depend on their benefits for at least half of their income. Fully 25 percent rely on Social Security for at least 90 percent of their income.

“Social Security benefits are absolutely vital to preserving a comfortable standard of living for Wisconsin’s elderly citizens,” said Joel Rogers, director of COWS. “Without these resources, we can be sure that many older residents of the state would be in a very precarious economic position.”

Other key findings for Wisconsin:

•  Nearly 930,000 people in Wisconsin receive Social Security benefits.

• The federal government spends $9.2 billion in Social Security in Wisconsin.

• Without Social Security, 45 percent of Wisconsin residents age 65 and older would have incomes below the poverty line.

• Five percent of all Social Security beneficiaries in Wisconsin are children.

 Social Security in Wisconsin at a Glance is available on the Internet at www.cows.org.

More information about Social Security is available from EPI at www.epinet.org/socialsecurity.

Source: Center on Wisconsin Strategy, University of Wisconsin Press Release

The Missouri Institute of Mental Health provides the Policy Information Exchange (PIE) as a service to the mental health community.  The Institute places documents into the PIE database that are examples of sound policy research, have high policy relevance, or have been judged to be of special interest to the mental health community. The Institute does not necessarily agree with the policy positions stated in documents in the PIE database.