Social Security In America Essay

669 Words3 Pages

If you walk into any mall in America, you will see a variety of people. While people of all ages go to malls, a vast majority of consumers are teenagers. Picking a new outfit, receiving a manicure, or buying new shoes are past times that most teenagers enjoy. However, these activities come at a cost, which is why a lot of teenagers take on part time jobs outside of school. A paycheck is typically the main focus for a teenager during work, which means most kids notice that a large portion of their money goes to Social Security. This program was created by the government to ensure that all Americans had money to live off of after they retire. However, this system is expected to be exhausted by 2030, which will cause many Americans to lose major benefits (Feldstein). The causes of this imbalance comes down to three main reasons; there are more Americans retirement than there are working, there is a maximum cap on how much high-earning people can be taxed, and that Americans are relying on Social Security more …show more content…

Currently, American citizens pay 12.4 percent of their wage in taxes to support Social Security. However, the maximum any citizen is required to pay is $118,500 annually (Barro). This means that if 12.4 percent of someone’s wage is more than the maximum tax requirement, that person doesn’t have to pay the full percentage. This system allows high income citizens to essentially “pay-less” by not requiring them to be taxed the same percentage of their income as everyone else. If this tax cap were to be abolished, it would bring approximately $135 billion annually back into the Social Security system (Barro). This solution is easily achievable, and dissolves discrimination between higher and lower economic classes, which is why it would be a simple fix to help correct the current Social Security