Proposed Cuts to SSI Would Hurt Disabled Children and Their Families

House and Senate Republicans’ proposed budget plans would force cuts to critical programs, worsening hardship for extremely vulnerable families and pushing many into, or deeper into, poverty. One possible target: Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for disabled children in low-income families. House Republicans have floated cutting children’s SSI benefits on a sliding scale if another member of the family also receives SSI — shrinking benefits for roughly a quarter of a million disabled children by between 38 and 66 percent, as we described in our analysis of their similar proposal in 2017. This would also further strain the Social Security Administration at a time when the agency is already struggling to meet customer demand for Social Security benefits.

SSI provides monthly benefits to low-income seniors and disabled people, including children; it is the only federal income support targeted to families caring for children with disabilities and reaches only the lowest-income and most severely impaired children, who tend to need the most significant support. These children have conditions such as Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, intellectual disability, and blindness. About 1 million households with disabled children receive SSI benefits averaging about $800 a month.

Families caring for children with disabilities — especially multiple children with disabilities — often face higher health care costs, more demands on their time, and more financial insecurity than other families. Roughly one-third of families with children receiving SSI already live below the poverty line; SSI benefits help them afford basic needs like food and housing as well as disability-related expenses like therapies or home modifications, which health insurance often doesn’t cover. The proposed cuts would make it even harder for these families to make ends meet.

Like many of the other budget options House Republicans are weighing, cutting SSI by billions of dollars is inconsistent with promises by then-candidate Trump to protect families who struggle financially. Moreover, House Republicans have proposed pairing these damaging cuts with yet more tax cuts for the wealthy and profitable corporations — shifting the price tag to moderate- and low-income families while the wealthy avoid paying their fair share.

Congress should reject this approach. There is a better, bipartisan path: instead of making it harder for families raising disabled kids to afford the basics, policymakers could instead allow them to save more, thereby cutting red tape and encouraging self-sufficiency.