Introduction
Social Security program provides help and support to the people deceased from work, those with disabilities, living in poverty, and retired. The program gives access to decent lifestyle and life-quality of thousands of citizens yearly, and there should be no doubt in its successful outcomes. However, some people are uncertain about the future viability of the Social Security system. According to the survey in 2015 by Gallup Poll, most participants hesitate they will get social security benefits, and consider the organization will be either in crisis or will have serious issues (Newport, 2015). Despite the fact of providing substantial amounts of help to those in need, there might be some problems in the current Social Security System that should be changed.
The Social Security System
Initially, the aim of the Social Security Act taken in 1935, was to make a self-perpetuating security fund with benefits to the elder people. According to the rules, the benefits would have been proportional to the number of contributions (Karger & Stoesz, 2018). Nevertheless, the plan was not realized due to unknown reasons, and Social Security started providing the minimum of the benefit level despite individual’s contributions (Karger & Stoesz, 2018). Such a shift in performance led to the current system of payments to the elderly. In 1970, the security tax increased dramatically and led to a variety of misunderstandings (Karger & Stoesz, 2018). The latter was related to the total years of tax-paying and the number of years living after retirement. Some workers might not receive their investments in older age as it is hard to estimate each person’s lifespan.
It also becomes evident that during the program implementation, the life duration was shorter than now due to the up-to-date medicine development, reduced number of wars, and the way of lifestyle. Karger and Stoesz (2018) emphasize that life expectancy in 1935 was 63, and currently is about 78 years. As a result, the number of retired increased, and fewer active workers started paying for the social security insurance of one retired person than it was before. This situation worsens by the fact that there is a decline in birthrate, and employed citizens currently pay taxes for a greater number of retired elderly. Brown et al. (2020) added that according to estimations of the Census Bureau, the U.S. population aged more than 62 will increase by almost 25% in the future 10 years. During these radical changes, the population younger 62 years will increase by only 3% (Brown et al., 2020). These changes will irreversibly lead to the bigger costs of the Social Security Fund and an escalation in tax payments.
To prevent further worsening of the problems, some changes can be made. The increase in tax payments might meet dissatisfaction among the employed population, and the possible tactics to save the current rate can be the implementation of strategies decreasing unemployment rates. If more people are engaged in jobs, less spending will be used for those deceased from work and could be reoriented to the OASDI (citizens of old age, survivors, and disabled) chain. If the situation with 25% elderly meets more serious disbalances, the financial sources for the Social Security Fund should be changed. The state may provide Social Security organization financing sources via other branches of the government budget. It is also achievable to promote people close to retirement age individual retirement accounts (IRA). IRAs help people save money for retirement in a tax-advantaged way, and with some savings, they might not rely only on Social Security insurance as financial support.
Conclusion
Thus, the Social Security system provides citizens with essential help and support but still has some issues to be solved. Because of the disbalances in mortality and birthrate, the prolonged lifespan of every individual brings serious deviations in financing operations. That means, the social insurance system waits for new legislations and modifications that will modernize its work. Proposed in this assignment changes might meet people’s dissatisfaction but help the Social Security Fund survive through the entrance of baby boomers into the retirement age.
References
Brown, J., Choi, J., Colle, C., & Woodbury, R. (2020). Social security and financial security at older ages. Social Security Bulletin, 80(1). Web.
Karger, H. J., & Stoesz D. (2018). American social welfare policy: A pluralist approach. Pearson.
Newport, F. (2015). Many Americans doubt they will get social security benefits. Gallup Poll. Web.