[roadcat]

http://www.ssa.gov/oact/progdata/icp.html Graphic there shows retired workers receiving benefits is 66.5 percent of total receiving benefits.
Spouses 4.1 percent.
Children 7.3 percent.
Widow(er)s and parents 7.1 percent.
Disabled workers 15 percent.

Money being paid in by today's workers is going out to pay for more than the number of retired workers. Today it takes three workers for each retiree today; today's worker is getting squeezed even worse than numbers suggest because one-third of payments go out to non-retirees.

[kabar]

I have no problem with those figures. SS confers benefits on spouses and survivors. My wife never paid into SS, but she gets a benefit thru me.