If you are doing any kind of research into Social Security issues, the Social Security Administration's office of Research, Statistics, and Policy Analysis produces a plethora of publications covering almost every conceivable Social Security-related topic. Admittedly, some of them are only for serious scholars or historians. Here are a couple of sample titles: "Social Security and the Emigration of Immigrants" or "Income of Urban Families and Individuals in Single Family Households." And here is a real page-turner: "Old Age Insurance for Agricultural Workers in Western Europe."

But they also produce some more mainstream publications that I, and many other researchers, use all the time. One little booklet that I find very helpful and informative is called "Fast Facts and Figures About Social Security." It is filled with little snippets of fascinating information. (I will admit that the fact that I find Social Security data so interesting is an indication that I lead a very boring life!)

Anyway, with apologies to my readers, I will share some of the booklet's interesting numbers, starting with the first page:

—65.1 million people receive benefits from programs administered by SSA.

—5.4 million people were newly awarded benefits in 2015.

—61 percent of aged Americans get at least half their income from Social Security.

—55 percent of adult Social Security beneficiaries are women.

—53.9 was the average age of disabled beneficiaries in 2015.

On another page, I discovered this. There were 59,963,000 people getting Social Security benefits in 2015. (The 65.1 million people cited above includes folks who get Supplemental Security Income payments. SSI is a federal welfare program, funded out of general tax revenues, which is administered by SSA.) Here is a breakdown of Social Security benefit categories:

—40,089,000 retired workers — 67 percent.

—2,984,000 spouses and children of retirees — 5 percent.

—8,909,000 disabled workers — 15 percent.

—1,897,000 spouses and children of disabled workers — 3 percent.

—6,084,000 survivors or deceased workers — 10 percent.

Yet another page provides information about the aggregate income sources of elderly Americans, comparing data from 1962 and 2014. Here is an excerpt of the data. (For each income source, the percentage indicated tells you to what degree that income makes up the budget of all American retirees.)

—Social Security — 31 percent in 1962 and 33 percent in 2014.

—Earnings — 29 percent in 1962 and 32 percent in 2014.

—Asset income — 16 percent in 1962 and 10 percent in 2014.

—Government pensions — 6 percent in 1962 and 8 percent in 2014.

—Private pensions: 3 percent in 1962 and 13 percent in 2014.

—Other income: 15 percent in 1962 and 4 percent in 2014.

There is another table in the booklet that I always find a little disturbing. It shows how much people rely on Social Security for their livelihood.

—For 61 percent of seniors, Social Security represents at least half their total income.

—And for 33 percent of seniors, Social Security represents 90 percent or more of their income.

In other words, there are millions of senior citizens in this country who are essentially living on their Social Security check. It was never supposed to be that way. From the very beginning of the program, people were told that Social Security should be only one part of their retirement nest egg. But the statistics show that a lot of people didn't get that message. Or, for a variety of possible reasons, circumstances just led them to rely too heavily on their Social Security checks to get by in retirement.

Another page in the booklet is labeled "Women beneficiaries." It charts how women's status as workers and retirees has grown over the years. For example, in 1940, only 12 percent of all Social Security recipients getting their own retirement checks were women. By 2015, half of all Social Security retirement beneficiaries were women.

Another section of the booklet charts the number of new claims for benefits processed by SSA each year — in this case, going back to 1975. In that year, 1.5 million people signed up for retirement benefits for the first time. In 2015, that number had jumped to almost 3 million — an indication that baby boomers are indeed rapidly turning into senior boomers. And as those boomers get older, their bodies are breaking down —as evidenced by new claims for disability benefits. There were 592,000 such claims in 1975 and 741,000 disability claims last year. Although surprisingly, that is down from a peak of just over 1 million disability claims in 2011.

So those are just a few of the many fascinating facts contained in "Fast Facts and Figures About Social Security." You can find it and hundreds of other publications at socialsecurity.gov. At the top of the home page, click on "Menu" and then scroll down until you see the "Research, Statistics and Policy Analysis" link.

If you have a Social Security question, Tom Margenau has the answer. Contact him at [email protected]. To find out more about Tom Margenau and to read past columns and see features from other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.