Data from the U.S. Census Supplemental Poverty Measure shows that last year 92,000 Mainers, from children to seniors, benefitted from government programs that provide food, healthcare, and Social Security.
The number of Mainers in poverty without government assistance, known as the Official Poverty Measure, was 113,000.
The results show tens of thousands of Mainers will be affected by the Trump Administration's cuts to safety net 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, and it has done just that. 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 benefits.
AARP is asking Congress to ensure Social Security is sustained and recipients get their benefits in a timely fashion and 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.
