Institutionalized SSI recipients covered by Medicaid, June 1977.

The dependent and survwor benefxtartes who lost beneftts because of thetr own earnmgs forfated a total of $303 m~lhon durmg 1975--o* 57 percent of the $529 mtllton that would have been payable to them had there been no deducttons for earnmgs Wtdowed fathers and mothers tended to have higher earnmgs than did other types of benefuarles (table 11) Fifty percent of the wdowed fathers had earnmgs of $9,000 or more and 15 percent earned between $6,000 and $8,999 Fifty percent of the wdowed mothers earned $6,000 or more, compared wtth 24 percent of the aged wdows, 40 percent of the wwes of retwed workers, and 42 percent of the wves of dtsabled workers The ratios of beneftts wthheld to benefits before wthholdmg dtd not differ much between the groups, partly because of the wtdely dlffermg amounts before wthholdmg For those who lost heneflts because of earnmgs, the average annual benefit before wthholdmg ranged from $840 for wtdowed fathers to $2,132 for aged wdows These amounts reflect the effects of the family tnaxmun prowlon and the dlfferent proportlons of the worker’s PIA payable to dependents and surwars The low average benefit payable to wdowed fathers reflects the low earnmgs of theu deceased wves Among the women wtth chddren tn thetr care, relatwely fewer of those under age 35 than those aged 35 or older had eammgs of $6,000 or more Many of the younger beneftcuvles had young chtldren and may have had to restrict then work actwtty to care for them Earnmgs levels for wdowed fathers, however, did not vary wth age Among aged wtdows, the proportlon wth earnmgs of $6,000 or more was substantially lower for those aged 60-61 than for those aged 62-64, and the latter proportlon was somewhat lower than that for those aged 65-71 Smce the benefits for wtdows are actuareally reduced for each month of entitlement before age 65, many wtdows wtth fairly high earnmgs would not fde for benefits untd they attamed that age Relatwzly few child beneflctarles earned $6,000 or more Those who did were most hkely to be student benefuarles who left school for a whtle and then returned Some child benefvxmes wth earnmgs of this magmtude probably had completed high school and obtamed full-time employment before thetr benefits were termmated at age I8