Thread by @kathleenromig

It’s been 50 years since the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program was signed into law. So how’s SSI doing, 50 years on? #SSIat50 🧵1/

Upon passage in 1972, policymakers said SSI was “designed to provide a positive assurance that the Nation's aged, blind, and disabled people would no longer have to subsist on below-poverty-level incomes.” 2/ ssa.gov/history/pdf/Do…

Well . . . today, roughly half of SSI beneficiaries *do* live in poverty. 3/ cbpp.org/research/socia…

Why are so many SSI beneficiaries poor? One reason is that the maximum federal SSI benefit is just $841/month, only three-quarters of the federal poverty line. And more than half of SSI beneficiaries have no other income. 4/

Another reason is that key features of SSI haven’t been updated in decades—or ever. 5/

For example, SSI beneficiaries who work can only keep $65/month in earnings before their benefits are reduced $1 for every $2 earned. (Yes, you read that right--$65 per *month*.) This has not changed since 1972. 6/

Back in 1972, median annual income for men working full time was about $10K; for women, about $6K. Millions of people had annual incomes of under $1K. 7/ www2.census.gov/prod2/popscan/…

Times have changed! But SSI still penalizes people who earn more than $65 a month. That traps many working beneficiaries in poverty, because the cuts start before total income even reaches the poverty threshold. 8/

Also unchanged since 1972: SSI beneficiaries may only keep $20/month in other benefits, then SSI is reduced dollar-for-dollar. One-third of SSI beneficiaries receive Social Security; their benefits avg $570/month (compared to $1,550/mo overall). But they only get $20 worth. 9/

Back in 1972, the average Social Security retirement benefit was $157/month, and the typical SSI beneficiary got significantly less than that. 9/ cdm16760.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collec…

For SSI beneficiaries, being able to keep $20/month in benefits and $65/month + half of earnings wasn’t much even in 1972 . . . but it went a heck of a lot further then than it does now.

Things were a LOT cheaper 50 years ago than they are today. 10/ aarp.org/money/budgetin…

In 1972:
⛽️A gallon of gas cost 36 cents
🥛A gallon of milk cost 89 cents
☕️A pound of coffee cost 66 cents 11/

Things are just as bad when you look at SSI’s savings limits, which haven’t been updated in over 3 decades. They now stand at a mere $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples. 12/

Again, SSI’s savings limits were very low 50 years ago, but you could get a lot more for it back then! Here’s what some big-ticket items cost in 1972:
🚗A Ford Mustang: $2,510
🍽️A dishwasher: $190
👚A washing machine: $220 13/

SSI is a program frozen in time, and its outdated rules fail to lift beneficiaries out of poverty—even worse, they keep many beneficiaries *in* poverty by penalizing work, savings, and receipt of Social Security and other benefits. 14/ cbpp.org/blog/ssis-50th…

Policymakers should mark the occasion of SSI’s anniversary by passing a bipartisan bill to increase SSI’s asset limits, one of the most egregious anti-savings provisions in federal law. 15/15 cbpp.org/blog/retiremen…