Millions of Supplemental Security Income recipients will receive their second payment in December, worth up to $914 for individual filers, in nine days.
The payment, which will be sent out on Friday, Dec. 29, is an unusual second payment for the month. There is some variation in the amount received depending on whether a recipient is an individual filer, joint filer, or essential person.
Individual filers receive $914 each month, eligible couples receive $1,371, and essential persons, who live with people receiving SSI payments and provide them with necessary care, get a monthly payment of $458, according to the Social Security Administration.
SSI payments are given on top of regular Social Security benefits, providing monthly payments to adults and children with blindness or another disability and limited income. To qualify for SSI, a person has to be over 65, be totally or partially blind, or have a “physical or mental condition(s) that very seriously limits their daily activities for a period of 12 months or more or may be expected to result in death.”
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Twelve SSI payments are sent out per year, but due to the scheduling of holidays and weekends, some months see two payments while others see none. December is one such month, and recipients will receive two payments.
Created in 1974, the SSI program seeks to provide extra assistance to society’s most vulnerable, including the old, blind, and disabled. The program was intended to provide an income floor, which state assistance programs would further supplement. The program was historic in that it shifted responsibility for determining who received assistance from the states to the federal government, according to a 2011 annual report.
