Social Security ensures important protections for all Americans, but it is of vital importance to African-Americans. Here is why:
- Social Security is the only source of income for four out of ten African-Americans aged 65 and over.
- Without Social Security, the poverty rate among African-Americans aged 65 and older would triple, from 21 percent to 60 percent.
- Because African-American workers have a shorter life expectancy than their European American counterparts, African-American children receive a disproportionate percentage of Social Security survivor benefits
- African-Americans represent approximately 13 percent of the population, but African-American children represent 23 percent of the children receiving Social Security survivors' benefits.
- A 30-year old worker earning $27,000 has life insurance protection for his wife and two young children with a present value of $380,000
- Because of poorer health, African-Americans are more likely to receive disability benefits than their European American counterparts.
- African-Americans represent approximately 13 percent of the population, but 17 percent of disabled workers receiving Social Security disability benefits.
- A 30-year old worker earning $27,000 has disability insurance protection for his wife and two young children with a present value of over $365,000
- African-Americans, on average, earn less than European Americans, and have higher rates of unemployment. Social Security contains a progressive benefit formula, which provides lower earners a higher rate of return on their Social Security contributions.
- The median earnings in 2002 of African-Americans working in jobs covered by Social Security were about $22,100, compared to $28,400 for all working-age people.