It should come as little surprise as the baby boomer generation ages into retirement, but Social Security overwhelmingly lifts the most people out of poverty than any other government program.
That’s according to the Census Bureau’s supplemental poverty measure released Wednesday, which tries to take into account the government programs designed to assist low-income families and individuals that are not included in the official poverty measure.
Social Security kept 27 million people out of poverty, according to these numbers. Refundable tax credits had the second-biggest impact, keeping 8.3 million out of poverty.
Related: Why people who claim Social Security early often live to regret it
Other programs with big impacts: food stamps, otherwise called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; Supplemental Security Income, which goes to aged, blind and disabled people; and housing subsidies.
Read: Retirees across America are facing a fiscal crisis
Conversely, medical expenses were the largest contributor to increasing the number of individuals in poverty. Worker expenses and the payroll tax, also known as the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, also put people in poverty.
Related: Typical household now brings in as much income as before the recession
The definition of poverty based in the supplemental measure is based on expenditure of food, clothing, shelter and utilities. Though it varies depending on geography, it’s about $27,000 for the typical two-adult, two-child household.
