Social Security Constitutes Most of Retirement Income for Most Americans

Center for Economic and Policy Research analyst Alan Barber says Social Security constitutes about 50 percent of family income for about half of Americans older than 65, while "the percentage of families in which Social Security benefits account for at least half of their retirement income rises to 70 percent for blacks and Hispanics," reports ThinkAdvisor . "Benefits are roughly 90 percent of income for one in four of those 65 or older," Barber notes. He and colleagues analyzed data from the 2015 March CPS to determine Social Security benefits were the largest share of income for the least advantaged recipients, those in the first and second quintiles. Social Security was 59.9 percent of income for the third quintile, and 38.4 percent and 15.1 percent for the fourth and fifth quintiles, respectively. Most married couples in the third quintile depended on Social Security benefits for between 41.9 percent and 49 percent of their income, rising to 63 percent for Hispanic couples. Among single men in the first quintile, Social Security comprised 92.6 percent all of retirement income for those in the Other, Non-Hispanic category. Variation among quintiles was less significant for single women but Social Security benefits were a much larger share of income at the third, fourth, and fifth quintiles for women than for men and married couples.