Social Security Benefits

Today’s generation will have to find other means to help support themselves in retirement if Social Security funding runs dry. The uncertainty of where the money will come from to sustain the fund, further adds to the problem. According to the Social Security Administration, approximately 59 million people collected Social Security Benefits in 2015, but as the population swells that number is expected to grow to approximately 100 million by the mid 2030’s. Government officials need to step in and act quickly to solve the issue of funding, but opposing viewpoints keep it at a standstill. Retiring using Social Security will be a thing of the past without proper reform, due to funding issues caused by longer life spans and political gridlock.

After an amendment in 1940 to include survivors’ benefits, disability benefits, health care benefits and cost of living raises, monthly payments were started. Ida May Fuller, of Ludlow, Vermont was the first recipient of monthly payments in the amount of $22.54. Since its inception Social Security was looked at as a stable, reliable, income for everyone as they approached their retirement years. However, the Social Security program of today faces many problems and while there is no perfect solution, there are things that can be done by our politicians to ensure the continuation of America’s retirement

“Legislators from both major parties talk about reform, but refuse to do anything substantial -- if they did, they would be voted out of office since reform would likely mean benefit cuts or higher taxes.” (Badertscher) Social Security needs reform and it has had it in the past. Since its inception there have been steady changes to the program to ensure its sustainability and continuation. However fixing the problems that arose usually ended up causing new ones to form. The National Commission on Social Security Reform, also known as the Greenspan Commission, was created in 1983 to ensure these problems were seen to. However, movement is slow and some politicians are reluctant to changes in the system. “Critics of the Bush plan believe that the current system will be able to continue distributing the same level of benefits until 2075, if the economy continues to grow as it has historically.” (Wilson) Republicans are pushing to cut benefits; lower payments mean less revenue that needs to be brought in. Democrats push to expand benefits, they believe in a retirement for all people and want to avoid cuts in benefits in any way possible. “The consensus among Democrats has gone beyond opposition to benefit cuts. Now they stand almost united in favor of expanding Social Security.” (Biggs) While both sides argue which