Social Security Works

Download "Key Facts About Social Security" fact sheet (PDF)

Social Security belongs to the workers and their families who have worked hard, paid taxes in, and earned its benefits. Social Security did not cause the federal deficit, and its benefits should not be cut to reduce the deficit.  The federal government found the money to bail out Wall Street; it must find the money to pay what it owes to Social Security.

Today’s and tomorrow’s beneficiaries – children, people with disabilities, widows, widowers, and retired workers – deserve no less. In this, Social Security’s 75th Anniversary year, we are united in support of the following principles:

• Social Security has a surplus of $2.6 trillion, which it has loaned to the federal government. Social Security did not cause the federal deficit. Its benefits should not be cut to reduce the deficit.  

• Social Security, which has stood the test of time, should not be privatized in whole or in part.

• Social Security is insurance and should not be means-tested. Because workers pay for it, they should receive it regardless of their income or savings.

• Social Security is fully funded for more than 25 years; thereafter it has sufficient funds to meet 75 percent of promised benefits. To reassure Americans that Social Security will be there for them, Congress should act in the coming few years outside the context of deficit reduction to close this funding gap by requiring those who are most able to afford it to pay somewhat more.

• Social Security’s retirement age, already scheduled to increase from 65 to 67, should not be raised further. That would be a benefit cut that places the greatest hardship on older Americans who are in physically demanding jobs, or are otherwise unable to find or keep employment.

• Social Security, whose average benefit is $13,000 in 2010, provides vital protection against the loss of wages as the result of disability, death, or old age.  Those benefits should not be reduced, including by changes to the cost of living adjustment or the benefit formula.

• Social Security’s benefits should be increased for those who are most disadvantaged.  The benefits, which are very important to virtually all workers and their families, are particularly crucial to those who are disadvantaged.  

 

Debate rages in Washington about how to reduce our nation’s growing federal deficit, and pundits and politicians alike propose cutting Social Security. It doesn’t seem to matter that Social Security has not caused the federal deficit, and the program has a $2.5 trillion surplus today, which is projected to grow to $4.2 trillion by 2025. 

Nor does it seem to matter that the housing equity and retirement savings of many Americans collapsed during the nation’s Great Recession. Cutting Social Security’s protections – especially for middle-aged and young workers – will undermine Social Security as a financial foundation, and often a financial lifeline.

Social Security is paid for through dedicated taxes contributed by workers and their employers. That is why Social Security is a promise, a bond between generations that belongs to the people who have worked hard all their lives and to their families.

Social Security is family insurance protection against lost wages due to old age, disability, or death. The importance of Social Security’s earned protections cannot be overstated:

• 53 million beneficiaries – around one in four households—receive Social Security.

•  1 out of 3 Social Security beneficiaries is not a senior citizen. 

• Almost two out of three seniors rely on Social Security for half or more of their income. 

• The average Social Security benefit is less than $13,000 a year ($14,000 for retirees).

• Social Security is the nation’s largest disability program, without which more than half of disabled workers would have incomes below the poverty line.

• Nearly 9 percent of all U.S. children – about 6.5 million – receive Social Security or live in households where all or part of the income of the household comes from Social Security. Consequently, Social Security is the nation’s largest and, despite its modest benefits, most generous children’s program.

Clearly Social Security works for the nation and for the residents of every state and congressional district too. Social Security’s average benefit is very modest, which is why America cannot afford to cut it. Instead, Congress should work hard to strengthen Social Security.

 

 

"Social Security is more than a card…it’s a promise from each generation of Americans to those that follow."

William McNary, USAction President

 

 

 

From 2005

Bush all but Concedes Defeat in Fight to Privatize Social Security

Thanks to hard work and the support of all of our members, President Bush came as close to conceding defeat in his effort to privatize Social Security as he ever has or as he is likely to in the future.  In a press conference in the Rose Garden President Bush acknowledged for the first time that Congress has a “diminished appetite” for passing his plan to privatize Social Security and when he listed the priorities he would like Congress to address, and for which he is willing to expend his own political capital, privatization was not among them.

Asked how much political capital he still has in the wake of the array of problems facing his administration, Bush replied, “Plenty.” But his Social Security plan was not on the list of priorities he rattled off for the expenditure of that capital. He insisted, however, that it was not off his agenda altogether.  [Congressional Quarterly, October 4, 2005]

Social Security…Keeping the Promise

Our core American values—justice, equality, liberty, fairness and opportunity—are all captured in the promise of Social Security.

Social Security is the most popular and successful program in our nation’s history, guaranteeing retirement security, life insurance coverage and disability benefits to all Americans. Today, some 47 million Americans receive Social Security benefits each month.

We should strengthen this program and not break our promise by privatizing Social Security.

• Social Security has a successful track record: more than 70 years of providing benefits to all Americans.
• Social Security is a guaranteed benefit. All Americans contribute, and all Americans will eventually receive benefits. Currently, 47 million Americans receive payments from the Social Security Trust Fund.
• Social Security is the biggest source of income for two-thirds of all seniors, and the only source of income for one out of five seniors.
• Social Security pays monthly benefits to 3 million children, more than any other government program.
• Nearly 15 million Americans receive survivor’s benefits or disability benefits.
• Without Social Security benefits the poverty rate among elderly African Americans and Latinos would more than double, and half of all elderly women would live in poverty.

 

Tough Choices and Fake Crises

 The truth is there is no Social Security crisis. Social Security can pay full benefits until at least 2037. If the economy grows at historic levels, there will be no shortfall at all.

Makking the Right Choices

Social Security is a program for every American, a program that protects every American family and helps to keep average, working and middle class Americans out of poverty.  Congress should ensure that Social Security remains healthy.

There are common sense adjustments that can be made to protect the future of Social Security without replacing our guaranteed benefits with a guaranteed gamble.

• Repealing the tax cuts just for the richest one percent of Americans — the millionaires and billionaires — would provide enough revenue to cover the projected “shortfall.”
• Reinstating the estate tax would generate $55 billion in 2009 alone.
• Raising the tax cap would not only help to raise revenue, it would make the system fairer.  Believe it or not, millionaires contribute the same amount to Social Security as people who make $106,000, which is currently the maximum amount of income that can be taxed.  We should contribute to the growth and health of our society.

Take Action

Write A letter to Congress

The following are key points to include in your letter:

• There’s no Social Security “crisis”.  Keep Social Security safe.
• Don’t cut benefits for anyone. Americans pay their own way with Social Security.
• Don’t gamble our retirement savings in the stock market.
   Its too risky.
• Find ways to stop the shortfall due to occur in 2037, but take your time.
• Consider raising the “cap” so everyone pays equally into Social Security. This alone is nearly enough to make Social Security secure permanently.