Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) benefit award data in the Annual Statistical Supplement are derived mainly from two sources:
When a retired-worker beneficiary subsequently becomes dually entitled to a secondary benefit as a wife, husband, or widow or widower, the secondary benefit is counted as an award in the 100 percent data. In contrast, award data that are based on the OASDI 1 percent sample do not count the secondary benefit as an award when both benefits are paid from the same trust fund.
When dual entitlements are counted as awards, the number of awardees is increased and the monthly amount awarded is lowered. The person has already been counted as having received an award when he or she became entitled to the retired-worker benefit and is counted again upon entitlement to the secondary benefit. The average benefit amount is lowered because the amount recorded for the award for the dually entitled person is only the difference between the amount of the retired-worker benefit and the amount of the secondary benefit.
CONTACT: Karyn Foley (410) 965-9047.