On August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Social Security Act. More than 65 million Americans received Social Security benefits in January 2022. In addition to retirement benefits, workers who pay Social Security payroll taxes also get life insurance and disability protection. Their required earnings must be higher (up to $147,000 in 2022) the bigger their benefit. Social Security benefits are graduated; for workers earning less, they represent a larger portion of earlier earnings.Social Security provides a foundation for retirement security for practically everyone in the United States. 97% of seniors (between the ages of 60 and 89) are either receiving or will soon be receiving Social Security.
The average monthly Social Security retirement benefit in January 2022 was $1,614, or $19,370 annually. Social Security means testing would eliminate many of these benefits without creating any savings. Most Americans say that they appreciate Social Security and don't mind contributing to it.
In homes receiving Social Security payments in 2019, there were more than 6.5 million kids under the age of 18. Official estimates state that in 2020, Social Security lifted 1.1 million children out of poverty. Social Security often provides the majority of income for older people. Most elderly Americans with modest incomes get little or no pension payments. Older Black and Latino persons who live in poverty are around 2.5 times more prevalent than older White people.
Senior people of color have more retirement insecurity than older people of white race. Because they earn less money and live longer than men, women require Social Security more than men do. Women make about half of Social Security beneficiaries in their 60s.
To primarily address the program's long-term financing problem, politicians should concentrate on increasing tax receipts for Social Security, according to academics.
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