Figure IND 3a. Percentage of the Total Population Receiving AFDC/TANF, by Age: 1970-2004
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, and U.S. Bureau of the Census (available online at http://www.census.gov ).
- Just under 2 percent of the total population received TANF in 2004. The rate of AFDC/TANF receipt has dropped significantly since 1993, when it was at a 25-year high of over 5 percent, as shown in Table IND 3a. The 2004 rate of receipt was the lowest since the early 1960s.
- AFDC/TANF recipiency rates have been much higher over time for children than for adults, with the child recipiency rates also showing more pronounced changes over time. Between 1993 and 2004, AFDC/TANF receipt among children decreased by more than half (from 14 to just over 5 percent), the most rapid decline in a generation.
Table IND 3a. Number and Percentage of the Total Population Receiving AFDC/TANF, by Age 1970-2004
| Total Recipients | Adult Recipients | Child Recipients | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal Year | Number (thousands) | Percent | Number (thousands) | Percent | Number (thousands) | Percent |
| 1970 | 7,188 | 3.5 | 1,863 | 1.4 | 5,325 | 7.6 |
| 1971 | 9,281 | 4.5 | 2,516 | 1.8 | 6,765 | 9.7 |
| 1972 | 10,345 | 4.9 | 2,848 | 2.0 | 7,497 | 10.8 |
| 1973 | 10,760 | 5.1 | 2,984 | 2.1 | 7,776 | 11.3 |
| 1974 | 10,591 | 5.0 | 2,935 | 2.0 | 7,656 | 11.3 |
| 1975 | 10,854 | 5.0 | 3,078 | 2.1 | 7,776 | 11.6 |
| 1976 | 11,171 | 5.1 | 3,271 | 2.2 | 7,900 | 11.9 |
| 1977 | 10,933 | 5.0 | 3,230 | 2.1 | 7,703 | 11.8 |
| 1978 | 10,485 | 4.7 | 3,128 | 2.0 | 7,357 | 11.4 |
| 1979 | 10,146 | 4.5 | 3,071 | 1.9 | 7,075 | 11.0 |
| 1980 | 10,422 | 4.6 | 3,226 | 2.0 | 7,196 | 11.3 |
| 1981 | 10,979 | 4.8 | 3,491 | 2.1 | 7,488 | 11.8 |
| 1982 | 10,233 | 4.4 | 3,395 | 2.0 | 6,838 | 10.9 |
| 1983 | 10,467 | 4.5 | 3,548 | 2.1 | 6,919 | 11.1 |
| 1984 | 10,677 | 4.5 | 3,652 | 2.1 | 7,025 | 11.2 |
| 1985 | 10,630 | 4.5 | 3,589 | 2.0 | 7,041 | 11.2 |
| 1986 | 10,810 | 4.5 | 3,637 | 2.1 | 7,173 | 11.4 |
| 1987 | 10,878 | 4.5 | 3,624 | 2.0 | 7,254 | 11.5 |
| 1988 | 10,734 | 4.4 | 3,536 | 2.0 | 7,198 | 11.4 |
| 1989 | 10,741 | 4.4 | 3,503 | 1.9 | 7,238 | 11.4 |
| 1990 | 11,263 | 4.5 | 3,643 | 2.0 | 7,620 | 11.9 |
| 1991 | 12,391 | 4.9 | 4,016 | 2.1 | 8,375 | 12.8 |
| 1992 | 13,423 | 5.2 | 4,336 | 2.3 | 9,087 | 13.7 |
| 1993 | 13,943 | 5.4 | 4,519 | 2.3 | 9,424 | 13.9 |
| 1994 | 14,033 | 5.3 | 4,554 | 2.3 | 9,479 | 13.8 |
| 1995 | 13,479 | 5.1 | 4,322 | 2.2 | 9,157 | 13.2 |
| 1996 | 12,477 | 4.6 | 3,921 | 2.0 | 8,556 | 12.2 |
| 1997 | 10,779 | 4.0 | 3,106 | 1.5 | 7,673 | 10.8 |
| 1998 | 8,653 | 3.1 | 2,469 | 1.2 | 6,184 | 8.7 |
| 1999 | 7,068 | 2.5 | 1,838 | 0.9 | 5,231 | 7.3 |
| 2000 | 6,218 | 2.2 | 1,687 | 0.8 | 4,531 | 6.3 |
| 2001 | 5,674 | 2.0 | 1,504 | 0.7 | 4,171 | 5.7 |
| 2002 | 5,573 | 1.9 | 1,474 | 0.7 | 4,099 | 5.6 |
| 2003 | 5,452 | 1.9 | 1,415 | 0.7 | 4,037 | 5.5 |
| 2004 | 5,310 | 1.8 | 1,352 | 0.6 | 3,958 | 5.4 |
Notes: See Appendix A, Tables TANF 2, TANF 12 and TANF 14, for more detailed data on recipiency rates, including recipiency rates by calendar year. Recipients are expressed as the fiscal year average of monthly caseloads from administrative data, excluding recipients in the territories. Tribal TANF recipients are also excluded. Child recipients include a small number of dependents ages 18 and older who are students. The average number of adult and child recipients in 1998 and 1999 are estimated using data from the National Emergency TANF Data Files and thereafter using the National TANF Data Files.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, and U.S. Bureau of the Census (available online at http://www.census.gov ).
Figure IND 3b. Percentage of the Total Population Receiving Food Stamps, by Age: 1975-2004
Source: Recipient data by age from U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Analysis, Nutrition and Evaluation, Characteristics of Food Stamp Households, Fiscal Year 2004 and earlier reports (available online at www.fns.usda.gov/oane/MENU/Published/FSP/participation.htm, and unpublished data from the Food Stamps National Data Bank. Population denominators are from U.S. Bureau of the Census (available online at http://www.census.gov ).
- Source: Recipient data by age from U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Analysis, Nutrition and Evaluation, Characteristics of Food Stamp Households, Fiscal Year 2004 and earlier reports (available online at www.fns.usda.gov/oane/MENU/Published/FSP/participation.htm, and unpublished data from the Food Stamps National Data Bank. Population denominators are from U.S. Bureau of the Census (available online at http://www.census.gov ).
- As with AFDC/TANF, food stamp recipiency rates have been much higher over time for children than for adults. Between 1980 and 2004, the percentage of all children who received food stamps was more than double the percentage for all adults ages 18 to 59.
- Similar trends in food stamp recipiency – largely reflecting changes in the rate of unemployment and programmatic changes – existed across all age groups over time, as shown in Table IND 3b. The percentages of individuals receiving food stamps declined from 1984 through 1988, rose in the early 1990s until reaching a peak in 1994, declined sharply through 2000 and since then have risen somewhat from their low of 6.1 percent in 2000 and 2001.
Table IND 3b. Number and Percentage of the Total Population Receiving Food Stamps, by Age 1975-2004
| Total Recipients | Adult Recipients Ages 60 and over | Adult Recipients Ages 18-59 | Child Recipients Ages 0-18 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal Year | Number (thousands) | Percent | Number (thousands) | Percent | Number (thousands) | Percent | Number (thousands) | Percent |
| 1975 | 16,320 | 7.6 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1976 | 17,033 | 7.8 | – | – | – | – | 9,126 | 13.8 |
| 1977 | 15,604 | 7.1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1978 | 14,405 | 6.5 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1979 | 15,942 | 7.1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1980 | 19,253 | 8.5 | 1,741 | 4.9 | 7,186 | 5.6 | 9,876 | 15.5 |
| 1981 | 20,654 | 9.0 | 1,845 | 5.0 | 7,811 | 6.0 | 9,803 | 15.5 |
| 1982 | 21,754 | 9.4 | 1,641 | 4.4 | 7,838 | 6.0 | 9,591 | 15.3 |
| 1983 | 21,668 | 9.3 | 1,654 | 4.4 | 8,960 | 6.7 | 10,910 | 17.4 |
| 1984 | 20,796 | .8 | 1,758 | 4.5 | 8,521 | 6.3 | 10,492 | 16.8 |
| 1985 | 19,847 | 8.3 | 1,783 | 4.5 | 8,258 | 6.1 | 9,906 | 15.8 |
| 1986 | 19,382 | 8.1 | 1,631 | 4.1 | 7,895 | 5.7 | 9,844 | 15.7 |
| 1987 | 19,072 | 7.9 | 1,589 | 3.9 | 7,684 | 5.5 | 9,771 | 15.5 |
| 1988 | 18,613 | 7.6 | 1,500 | 3.7 | 7,506 | 5.3 | 9,351 | 14.8 |
| 1989 | 18,778 | 7.6 | 1,582 | 3.8 | 7,560 | 5.3 | 9,429 | 14.9 |
| 1990 | 20,020 | 8.0 | 1,511 | 3.6 | 8,084 | 5.6 | 10,127 | 15.8 |
| 1991 | 22,599 | 8.9 | 1,593 | 3.8 | 9,190 | 6.3 | 11,952 | 18.3 |
| 1992 | 25,370 | 9.9 | 1,687 | 3.9 | 10,550 | 7.2 | 13,349 | 20.1 |
| 1993 | 26,957 | 10.4 | 1,876 | 4.3 | 11,214 | 7.5 | 14,196 | 21.0 |
| 1994 | 27,439 | 10.4 | 1,955 | 4.5 | 11,615 | 7.7 | 14,391 | 21.0 |
| 1995 | 26,579 | 10.0 | 1,920 | 4.4 | 11,105 | 7.3 | 13,860 | 20.0 |
| 1996 | 25,495 | 9.5 | 1,891 | 4.3 | 10,769 | 7.0 | 13,189 | 18.8 |
| 1997 | 22,820 | 8.4 | 1,831 | 4.1 | 9,373 | 6.0 | 11,847 | 16.7 |
| 1998 | 19,749 | 7.2 | 1,635 | 3.6 | 7,760 | 4.9 | 10,524 | 14.7 |
| 1999 | 18,146 | 6.5 | 1,696 | 3.7 | 7,079 | 4.4 | 9,332 | 13.0 |
| 2000 | 17,156 | 6.1 | 1,700 | 3.7 | 6,612 | 4.0 | 8,743 | 12.1 |
| 2001 | 17,282 | 6.1 | 1,658 | 3.6 | 6,778 | 4.1 | 8,819 | 12.1 |
| 2002 | 19,059 | 6.6 | 1,684 | 3.6 | 7,625 | 4.5 | 9,688 | 13.3 |
| 2003 | 21,222 | 7.3 | 1,786 | 3.7 | 8,503 | 5.0 | 10,605 | 14.5 |
| 2004 | 23,819 | 8.1 | 1,917 | 3.9 | 9,753 | 5.7 | 11,771 | 16.1 |
Note: See Appendix A, Tables FSP 1 and FSP 6 for more detailed data on recipiency rates. Recipient total exclude the territories and are the fiscal year averages of monthly caseloads from administrative data. From 1975 to 1983 the number of participants includes the Family Food Assistance Program (FFAP) that was largely replaced by the Food Stamp program in 1975. From 1975 to 1983 the number of FFAP participants averaged only 88 thousand.
Source: Recipient data by age from U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Analysis, Nutrition and Evaluation, Characteristics of Food Stamp Households, Fiscal Year 2004 and earlier reports (available online at www.fns.usda.gov/oane/MENU/Published/FSP/participation.htm, and unpublished data from the Food Stamps National Data Bank. Individual age groups do not sum exactly to total participants. The population denominators for the percents in each category are from U.S. Bureau of the Census (available online at http://www.census.gov ).
Figure IND 3c. Percentage of the Total Population Receiving SSI, by Age: 1975-2004
Source: Social Security Administration, Office of Research, Evaluation and Statistics, SSI Annual Statistical Report, 2004, (available online at http://www.ssa.gov/policy/data_sub109.html ) and U.S. Bureau of the Census (available online at http://www.census.gov ).
- Unlike the recipiency rates for AFDC/TANF and food stamps, which have been influenced by outside factors such as the economy and welfare reform, overall recipiency rates for SSI show less variation over time. After trending downward slightly from 1975 to the early 1980s, the proportion of the total population that receives SSI has risen from 1.7 percent in 1985 to 2.5 percent in 1996 and subsequently declined slightly to 2.4 percent in 2004. As shown in Table IND 3c, the total number of recipients has grown by 69 percent over the same period, from 4.1 million in 1985 to just under 7 million people in 2004.
- Elderly adults (ages 65 and older) have much higher recipiency rates than any other age group. The gap has narrowed, however, as the percentage of adults aged 65 and older receiving SSI has been cut in half, declining from 10.9 percent in 1975 to 5.4 percent in 2004.
- The proportion of children receiving SSI increased gradually between 1975 and 1990, and grew more rapidly in the early and mid-1990s, reaching a high of 1.4 percent in 1996. The rate then fell slightly through 2000 before inching back upward to 1.4 percent in 2004.
Table IND 3c. Number and Percentage of the Total Population Receiving SSI, by Age: 1975-2004
| Total Recipients | Adult Recipients Ages 65 & over | Adult Recipients Ages 18-64 | Child Recipients Ages 0-18 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Number (thousands) | Percent | Number (thousands) | Percent | Number (thousands) | Percent | Number (thousands) | Percent |
| Dec 1975 | 4,314 | 2.0 | 2,508 | 10.9 | 1,699 | 1.3 | 107 | 0.2 |
| Dec 1976 | 4,236 | 1.9 | 2,397 | 10.2 | 1,714 | 1.3 | 125 | 0.2 |
| Dec 1977 | 4,238 | 1.9 | 2,353 | 9.7 | 1,738 | 1.3 | 147 | 0.2 |
| Dec 1978 | 4,217 | 1.9 | 2,304 | 9.3 | 1,747 | 1.3 | 166 | 0.3 |
| Dec 1979 | 4,150 | 1.8 | 2,246 | 8.8 | 1,727 | 1.3 | 177 | 0.3 |
| Dec 1980 | 4,142 | 1.8 | 2,221 | 8.6 | 1,731 | 1.2 | 190 | 0.3 |
| Dec 1981 | 4,019 | 1.7 | 2,121 | 8.0 | 1,703 | 1.2 | 195 | 0.3 |
| Dec 1982 | 3,858 | 1.7 | 2,011 | 7.4 | 1,655 | 1.2 | 192 | 0.3 |
| Dec 1983 | 3,901 | 1.7 | 2,003 | 7.3 | 1,700 | 1.2 | 198 | 0.3 |
| Dec 1984 | 4,029 | 1.7 | 2,037 | 7.2 | 1,780 | 1.2 | 212 | 0.3 |
| Dec 1985 | 4,138 | 1.7 | 2,031 | 7.1 | 1,879 | 1.3 | 227 | 0.4 |
| Dec 1986 | 4,269 | 1.8 | 2,018 | 6.9 | 2,010 | 1.3 | 241 | 0.4 |
| Dec 1987 | 4,385 | 1.8 | 2,015 | 6.7 | 2,119 | 1.4 | 251 | 0.4 |
| Dec 1988 | 4,464 | 1.8 | 2,006 | 6.6 | 2,203 | 1.5 | 255 | 0.4 |
| Dec 1989 | 4,593 | 1.9 | 2,026 | 6.5 | 2,302 | 1.5 | 265 | 0.4 |
| Dec 1990 | 4,817 | 1.9 | 2,059 | 6.5 | 2,450 | 1.6 | 309 | 0.5 |
| Dec 1991 | 5,118 | 2.0 | 2,080 | 6.5 | 2,642 | 1.7 | 397 | 0.6 |
| Dec 1992 | 5,566 | 2.2 | 2,100 | 6.5 | 2,910 | 1.9 | 556 | 0.8 |
| Dec 1993 | 5,984 | 2.3 | 2,113 | 6.4 | 3,148 | 2.0 | 723 | 1.1 |
| Dec 1994 | 6,296 | 2.4 | 2,119 | 6.3 | 3,335 | 2.1 | 841 | 1.2 |
| Dec 1995 | 6,514 | 2.5 | 2,115 | 6.3 | 3,482 | 2.2 | 917 | 1.3 |
| Dec 1996 | 6,630 | 2.5 | 2,110 | 6.2 | 3,568 | 2.2 | 955 | 1.4 |
| Dec 1997 | 6,495 | 2.4 | 2,054 | 6.0 | 3,562 | 2.2 | 880 | 1.3 |
| Dec 1998 | 6,566 | 2.4 | 2,033 | 5.9 | 3,646 | 2.2 | 887 | 1.3 |
| Dec 1999 | 6,557 | 2.4 | 2,019 | 5.8 | 3,691 | 2.2 | 847 | 1.2 |
| Dec 2000 | 6,602 | 2.3 | 2,011 | 5.7 | 3,744 | 2.1 | 847 | 1.2 |
| Dec 2001 | 6,688 | 2.3 | 1,995 | 5.6 | 3,811 | 2.1 | 882 | 1.2 |
| Dec 2002 | 6,788 | 2.3 | 1,995 | 5.6 | 3,878 | 2.1 | 915 | 1.3 |
| Dec 2003 | 6,902 | 2.4 | 1,990 | 5.5 | 3,953 | 2.2 | 959 | 1.3 |
| Dec 2004 | 6,988 | 2.4 | 1,978 | 5.4 | 4,017 | 2.2 | 993 | 1.4 |
Note: December population figures used as the denominators are obtained by averaging the Census Bureau's July 1 population estimates for the current and the following year. See Appendix A, Tables SSI 2, SSI 8 and SSI 9 for more detailed data on SSI recipiency rates.
Source: Social Security Administration, Office of Research, Evaluation and Statistics, SSI Annual Statistical Report, 2004, (available online at http://www.ssa.gov/policy/data_sub109.html ) and U.S. Bureau of the Census (available online at http://www.census.gov ).
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