1952, including those receiving general assistance, the total number declined to 5.3 million in June 1953. This represented a drop of about 32 percent during the year, and a total reduction since June 1950 of about 14 percent. High levels of employment and the increase in the number of old-age and survivors insurance beneficiaries continued to be the primary factors contributing to the decline in caseloads, though more restrictive eligibility provisions in some States were also a factor.

The 1952 amendments to the Social Security Act, which made additional funds available to the States for public assistance, and the continued efforts of States to meet need on a more nearly adequate basis account in large measure for a 5.4 percent increase in total expendi

1 Payments in the fiscal year 1953 for old-age assistance, aid to dependent children, aid to the blind, aid to the permanently and totally disabled, and general assistance.

tures for assistance payments during the fiscal year 1953. An increase of $130.2 million raised total Federal, State, and local expenditures from $2,392.6 million in 1952 to $2,522.8 million in 1953.

Effective October 1952, the amendments raised the maximums on the amounts of individual payments in which the Federal Government can participate and increased the Federal share within these maximums. Increases in monthly payments of $5 per recipient under old-age assistance, aid to the blind, and aid to the permanently and totally disabled and $3 per recipient under aid to dependent children were possible in States that continued to spend as much per recipient from State and local funds as they had spent in the preceding month.

Since October 1, 1952, for old-age assistance, aid to the blind, and aid to the disabled, Federal funds pay four-fifths of the first $25 (raised from three-fourths of the first $20) of the average monthly assistance payment per recipient, plus half the balance of all expenditures up to $55 a month for individual payments (raised from $50). For aid to dependent children, Federal funds pay four-fifths of the first $15 (raised from three-fourths of the first $12) of the average monthly payment per recipent, plus half the balance up to $30 for the needy adult caretaker, $30 for the first child, and $21 for each additional child (raised from $27, $27, and $18, respectively).

With the additional Federal funds and the general decline in caseloads, some States with maximums on assistance payments raised them; other States that had been making percentage reductions in payments because of insufficient funds reduced or eliminated these cuts, or determined need under more nearly adequate standards in relation to current living costs. Several States that had adjusted payments before October 1952, however, to reflect increased living costs, made no further adjustments in payments or made only minor adjustments in their standards.

As a result of the 1952 amendments, the amount of Federal funds used to finance assistance payments in the last 9 months of the fiscal year increased by an estimated $144 million. Between the first and second quarters of the year, the percent of Federal participation rose from 51.5 for both old-age assistance and aid to dependent children to 56.9 and 58.3, respectively; in aid to the blind the change was from 45.6 to 50 percent; and in aid to the permanently and totally disabled from 47.8 to 52.9 percent.

In summary, at the end of the year about 5.3 million persons, about 1 in 30 in the population, were receiving public assistance. Total assistance expenditures from Federal, State, and local funds amounted to $2,523 million, or 1 percent of personal income payments in the Nation in the calendar year 1952. The Federal share of this expenditure was $1,278 million.

The aggregate cost of public assistance appears high, yet many individuals dependent upon public assistance payments are existing on a level of living far below a reasonable standard of decency and health. The large numbers of persons dependent on public assistance, in spite of general prosperity, are mainly those groups unable to take advantage of employment opportunities-the aged, the disabled, the blind, and young children. Moreover, the two largest of these groups that are most likely to be dependent-the aged and young children-are increasing more rapidly than the total population.

Old-age assistance.-The 2,609,000 aged persons receiving assistance in June 1953 represented a decrease of 2.3 percent from the number in

Chart 6.-PURCHASING POWER OF ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS TO THE AGED AND CHILDREN'

1 Beginning June 1951 includes payments to suppliers of medical care to recipients.

2 Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics consumers' price index for moderate-income families in large cities.

June a year earlier, and were about 201,000 fewer than the number aided in the peak month of September 1950. The caseload in 44 States decreased during the year. For all States combined, the recipient rate that is the number of recipients in proportion to the total population aged 65 and over-was 191 per 1,000 in June 1953 as compared with 202 in the preceding June. The average monthly payment was $51.08 as compared with $47.11 in June 1952.

Aid to dependent children.-The number of families receiving aid to dependent children in June 1953 was 564,000. These families included about 1.5 million children, or less than 3 percent of the child population. This was the lowest number of children aided since September 1949 and 92,000 fewer than in the peak month of October 1950. The recipient rate for all States was 28 per 1,000 children in the population under 18 years. In 35 States, the number of families also decreased. The average monthly payment per family in June 1953 was $83.98 (or $23.69 per person) as compared with $77.32 per family (or $22.36 per person) in June 1952.

Aid to the permanently and totally disabled.—The still relatively new program for aid to the permanently and totally disabled continued to grow. Georgia was added to the States receiving Federal funds for this program. The total number of recipients in the 39 States now administering programs with Federal financial participation was

179,000 in June 1953, as compared with 148,000 in 38 States in 1952. The average monthly payment was $53.72 as against $50.34 in June 1952.

Aid to the blind.-The number of recipients of aid to the blind increased by 1,000 during the year to 99,000 in June 1953. With the addition of Nevada, which first began to receive Federal funds for its program during the year, all jurisdictions are now administering aid to the blind with Federal financial participation. The average monthly payment in June 1953 was $55.53 as compared with $51.26 in June 1952. General assistance.-General assistance, financed entirely from State and/or local funds, was affected by high employment levels to a greater extent than the federally aided assistance programs, since it includes a larger proportion of persons who are actually or potentially employable. The 255,000 cases receiving general assistance in June 1953 was the smallest number since November 1945. From June 1952 to June 1953 the caseload declined 13 percent. The national monthly average payment per case was $47.16 in June 1953 as compared with $45.95 a year earlier.

Effect of Old-Age and Survivors

Insurance on Public Assistance

Despite the expansion of old-age and survivors insurance since September 1950, many people are still getting old-age assistance because some of the insurance benefits are not sufficient to meet minimum needs for those who have no other resources, or for those with unusual expenses, such as costly types of medical care. In February 1953 about 11 percent of the aged insurance beneficiaries received public assistance to supplement their benefits. They represented 16 percent of the old-age assistance caseload for that month. It is likely that, as the number of beneficiaries continues to increase, the number requiring supplementary assistance will also grow. This would be especially likely to happen if the cost of living remains high. Of all paternal orphans under age 18 in the general population, about half— 911,000 in June 1953-received survivor benefits under the insurance program. Nearly 6 percent of the families with children receiving insurance benefits also received supplementary assistance. They represented 5 percent of the families receiving aid to dependent children. The death of the father is the reason for dependency for about onesixth of the children getting aid to dependent children, and at least onethird of these children are receiving survivor benefits based on the wage record of the father. A few additional families may include a person getting insurance benefits-for example, an aged retired father. The other families receiving aid to dependent children-about five

sixths of the total do not include any person eligible for old-age and survivors insurance.

Because the insurance program does not cover all the risks that create dependent families, the expansion of the insurance program does not tend to reduce the aid to dependent children caseload to the same extent that it reduces the old-age assistance caseload. Likewise,

Chart 7.-GROWTH IN SOCIAL INSURANCE PROTECTION FOR THE AGED 1

RATE PER 1000 AGED POPULATION

1 Average monthly number of beneficiaries and recipients, by years, per 1,000 persons aged 65 and over in the population.

few recipients of aid to the permanently and totally disabled and aid to the blind are potentially eligible for insurance benefits. A special study of recipients of aid to the permanently and totally disabled made by 30 States in 1951 indicated that there were fewer than 400 insurance beneficiaries among 93,000 assistance cases. A report for September 1950 showed that 1,300 recipients of aid to the blind received both types of payments.