US Census data show there were 113,000 Mainers below the official poverty level from 2022 through 2024, including some who receive Social Security.
That number drops to 93,000 for those who receive government assistance like SNAP and MaineCare and expenses like housing, health care and childcare are considered.
James Myall of the Maine Center for Economic Policy said more than 93,000 Mainers are enrolled in government assistance programs and more detail is needed on how many people were helped out of poverty by those programs.
Noel Bonam, Maine State Director for AARP, said lifting people out of poverty was the intent of the Social Security program created by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935.
"That's why the program was created. That's the single program over the last nine decades that has kept millions of Americans out of poverty," Bonam said.
He said the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities suggests the number of Mainers 65 and older lifted out of poverty by Social Security is even higher.
And Bonam said a total of 369,000 Mainers who are retired, disabled, survivors or children receive Social Security.
AARP is asking Congress to ensure Social Security is sustained and recipients get their checks in a timely fashion and receive better customer service, despite staffing cuts by the Trump Administration. Bonam said he thinks Congress isn't not acting fast enough.
Maine Center for Economic Policy President Garrett Martin said in a statement that the Trump administration's demand for a new census will exclude vulnerable Mainers, weaken data collection and attempt to hide the harm their policies cause.
Martin called on lawmakers to stand up for Mainers who need food, health care, and housing and to not cave in to Trump's measures that benefit the ultra-wealthy.
*This story will be followed with another data release by the US Census Bureau Thursday, September 11th with more state specific numbers.
