SPENDING AREA · SOCIAL SECURITY
FY2025 Social Security net outlays. October 2024–September 2025. Final, completed fiscal year actuals; later revisions possible.
Function 650 is Social Security: retirement, survivors and disability benefits. Supplemental Security Income is in Income Security (600), even though SSA administers both. Other public pensions occur elsewhere. This is not all retirement spending; do not add the examples below to the function total. Evidence: [1], [2].
Social Security provides income to eligible retired workers, people with disabilities and survivors. These are distinct circumstances, not one retirement story. A benefit amount does not by itself show whether someone can afford housing, care or food.
Evidence: [1] · [2]
Across the ledger: federal employee retirement and disability is in Income Security (600); veterans’ income security is in Veterans Benefits and Services (700). Evidence: [10].
Congress establishes benefit and financing rules in law. The president proposes changes and signs or vetoes legislation; the Social Security Administration administers benefits. Existing eligibility and benefit formulas drive much of this spending rather than a new allocation to each household every year.
Evidence: [1] · [2] · [4]
Eligible workers, survivors and dependents receive benefits under the program’s rules. The Social Security function total is a net-outlay accounting measure, not a list of individual payments. Supplemental Security Income is a separate program and should not be folded into this total simply because SSA also administers it.
Evidence: [1] · [2]
Cash-benefit delivery · SSA determines entitlement and benefit amounts; Treasury disburses federal benefit payments. Some people receive benefits through representative payees, who must use the funds for their needs. A payee or payment processor is not necessarily the person benefiting. This page does not equate administrative contracts with household benefits. Evidence: [6], [7].
Observed benefit delivery · December 2024. SSA records 68.456 million Social Security beneficiaries in current-payment status. Retired workers averaged $1,975 per month; disabled workers averaged $1,581. These are December averages for distinct groups, not a FY2025 average or proof of adequacy. Evidence: [2].
Access gap · GAO’s January 2026 review describes disability-claim delays during FY2019–FY2024 and risks of losing mission-critical skills. Officials cited a new processing system and more medical evidence among contributing factors; the report does not establish telework as the cause of delays. Evidence: [8].
Outcome limit · household purchasing power and adequacy require separate evidence. The Census poverty comparison is statistical, not experimental, and affected by later threshold revisions. No unrevised poverty headline or invented household story is presented. Evidence: [3], [5].
SSA’s Office of the Chief Actuary evaluates possible changes to benefit formulas, retirement ages, payroll taxes and the taxable earnings limit. Its estimates show financing effects under stated assumptions; they are not enacted law or endorsements. The practical questions include who pays more, who receives less or more, and how changes affect people with different work histories.
Evidence: [4]
Service alternative · GAO recommended an updated workforce plan and a telework evaluation. Its current status page marks the workforce-plan recommendation implemented after SSA updated its staffing plan in December 2025. The telework recommendation remains open: in September 2026 SSA requested closure because routine telework had ended, and GAO is revisiting the status pending legal proceedings. These are implementation statuses, not measured improvements in service. Evidence: [8].
Financing choices · SSA’s actuaries evaluate changes to the taxable earnings limit, payroll-tax rate, retirement age and benefit formulas. Increasing revenue and changing benefits have different consequences for workers and recipients. The linked 2025-assumption estimates are scenarios, not FY2025 realized savings, enacted changes or endorsements. Evidence: [4], [9].
Sources & reading notes
Research checked October 6, 2026. Each finding retains its own observation period. Recommendations and projected savings are distinct from actual outlays and demonstrated outcomes.