
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 16, 1993                   TAG: 9310160171
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

SOCIAL SECURITY RISING 2.6% INCREASE SMALLEST IN YEARS

The nation's 42 million Social Security recipients will see the smallest annual increase in their monthly benefit checks since 1987 when they get a 2.6 percent raise effective Jan. 3.

The average monthly Social Security benefit paid to a retired worker will rise by $17 to $674 a month. For a couple, the average payment will rise by $29 to $1,140 a month.

By law, the cost-of-living adjustment is tied to the rise in the Consumer Price Index.

Social Security recipients have seen only one smaller increase since 1975. The Social Security cost-of-living adjustment was 1.3 percent in 1987.

The relatively modest increase is expected to provide small relief for low-income senior citizens, many of whom have found their household budget pinched by low returns on fixed-rate investments such as savings accounts and certificates of deposit.

"Every bit they get is a big help," said 78-year-old Philip Mishkin, a Democratic state representative from Port Richey, Fla. "The majority of retirees are getting along fairly well, but there are quite a percentage who live very frugally on Social Security alone. For them, any increase is vitally needed."

The poorest quarter of elderly Americans, those who have annual incomes of $5,000 or less, depend heavily on Social Security. Their monthly benefit checks provide 83 percent of their total income, according to the Employee Benefits Research Institute.

The 2.6 percent increase also applies to 5.7 million Supplemental Security Income recipients, who include aged, blind and disabled individuals and their families who get benefits on the basis of need.

by CNB