Washington, D.C.-  Senior citizens in Southwest Washington will soon be seeing a little more money in their bank accounts to help them weather these tough economic times thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.   The money will arrive in Social Security checks.   According to the Social Security Administration, 916,528 Washingtonians will be receiving this additional $250 benefit.

"We're facing some of the most disastrous economic times we've seen in generations, and they are particularly hard on seniors and those who are living on fixed incomes," said Congressman Baird.  "This money will go a long way to helping almost one million Washingtonians meet their basic needs."

In addition, by mid-May, payments to recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits will also begin to go out.

Nationwide, millions of the Social Security recipients receiving these payments are widowed, divorced, or single and are among the seniors with the lowest average incomes.

• Social Security is the only source of income for almost one-third of all non-married seniors receiving Social Security.

• The median annual income for non-married Social Security recipients over age 65 who are women is only $13,151.  The median annual income of non-married Social Security recipients over age 65 who are men is only $17,611.
  

• Almost 30 percent of non-married Social Security recipients who are women over age 65 are poor or near-poor - with 17.4 percent living below the federal poverty line and another 10.8 percent with incomes below 125 percent of the poverty line.

In addition to the economic recovery payments being made to Social Security and SSI recipients, the Recovery Act also provides these payments to disabled veterans and Railroad Retirement recipients.  The payments to Railroad Retirement recipients are scheduled to begin to go out in late May and the payments to disabled veterans in June.  In total, more than 50 million Americans will get this one-time payment.

If someone regularly receives benefits from two or more of these programs - such as Social Security and Railroad Retirement, or a disabled veterans' benefit and SSI - he or she will receive just one $250 payment.

"This is another example of how the recovery act is helping out people on Main Street," concluded Baird.  "Ninety-five percent of Americans saw tax relief through the Making Work Pay Tax Credit included in the law, and this money will provide similar assistance to those struggling to get by on fixed incomes."

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