You won't believe what 60 million people in the United States are doing!

'For two in three seniors who receive Social Security, it is more than half of their total income.'

For the first time, 60,000,000 people have benefited from a program that cost $400.078 billion in only five months - and the spending only increases with time.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to the Social Security Administration, 22 percent of married beneficiaries and forty-seven percent of unmarried beneficiaries rely on their Social Security checks for 90 percent or more of their monthly income.

Though providing financial aid for the elderly and needy stemmed from a deeply-rooted history, in 1912, then-President Theodore Roosevelt made the first decisive move for providing a realistic method of helping the elderly and the impaired.

He stated: "[I]t is abnormal for any industry to throw back upon the community the human wreckage due to its wear and tear, and the hazards of sickness, accident, invalidism, involuntary unemployment, and old age should be provided for through insurance. ... We pledge ourselves to work unceasingly in state and nation for: ... The protection of home life against the hazards of sickness, irregular employment, and old age through the adoption of a system of social insurance adapted to American use."

President Roosevelt stood for "social insurance," which was explained to be an "intelligent course" in which everyone who earned a wage could "combine with other wage earners to accumulate a common fund out of which old-age annuities may be paid to those who live long enough to need it."

The problem, of course, is that since 1912, people who retire tend to live much longer with help from much-improved and advanced medical and scientific technology.

Which leads us to today. Over 60,000,000 people have been officially enrolled in Social Security and live long enough to collect significantly more than they added to the fund during their years of working.

According to the Social Security Administration, a large hike can be seen in the life expectancy of Americans after age 65. In 1940, the life expectancy for a man was 12.7 years and 14.7 for a woman. In 1990, those numbers jumped to 15.3 years for men and 19.6 for women.

In 1990, Americans who were 65-years-old and up was 1.7 million. By 2000, it was 39.9 million.

According to the Office of the Chief Actuary of Social Security, the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds gave their beneficiaries an average of $1,228.12 in December 2015.

By February 2016, the average monthly benefit increased to $1,230.70. Though a discrepancy of only $2.58 seems like a small amount, recall that in December there were 59,963,425 beneficiaries and by February there were 60,199,914, which resulted in a total average increase of $610,141.62 within a three-month period.

In February, the Social Security Administration released a newsletter update, in which Acting Commissioner Carolyn W. Colvin stated: "Today, Social Security's insurance protection has become the foundation of retirement security for almost all American workers and families. 

"The average retirement benefit is modest, about $1,340 a month, yet benefits are the main income for most seniors. For two in three seniors who receive Social Security, it is more than half of their total income."

The newsletter explains why the aid is so important for seniors who tend to have more medical costs and require assistance in other areas including rent, utilities, groceries and medication. 

The 2017 fiscal year budget will be $13.230 billion in discretionary funds to be used to help the Administration balance service and stewardship work, develop new strategies, to improve and modernize customer service, investing in cost-effective program integrity and a plan for Compassionate and Responsive Services (CARES). 

Whether that extra $13.230 billion will result in more economic-friendly terms remains to be seen.

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