Children with marked and severe functional limitations (that have lasted, or are expected to last, for 12 months or result in death) may qualify for SSI payments, provided their families meet strict resource and income limits. We can help if you have a disabled child and have questions.
• A small percentage of children in the United States receive SSI. About 1.3 million children receive SSI, out of the total 74 million children in the United States —approximately 1.8 percent.
• The SSI program for children is small compared with other programs administered by the
Social Security Administration. There are about 63 million beneficiaries and recipients of Social Security and SSI payments, compared to just 1.3 million SSI children (only about 2 percent of those receiving benefits.)
• Annual payments for SSI children total about $10.5 billion compared to over $840 billion for all Social Security and SSI benefits combined—about 1.2 percent of total payments.
• Children on SSI typically live in families that have total family income below or near the federal poverty standard.
o 32 percent of them are in poverty.
o 58 percent have incomes below 150 percent of the poverty standard.
• If disability benefits were not included, the poverty rate for these children would increase from 32 percent to 58 percent. An additional 340 thousand children would live in poverty.