As policymakers turn to 2021 appropriations to fund the government, they should ensure that the Social Security Administration (SSA) has enough funds to meet daunting workloads that have become even more challenging during the COVID-19 crisis. While SSA received...
off the charts
POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
President’s Budget Would Hurt People With Disabilities
February 13, 2020
President Trump’s 2021 budget would make it harder for millions of people with disabilities to afford such basics as food, housing, and health care by cutting tens of billions of dollars from disability programs, including Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and...
Trump Budget Would Hurt Older Americans
February 12, 2020
Older Americans are among the many groups that President Trump’s proposed 2021 budget would seriously harm. While running for president, Trump repeatedly promised not to cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid, which serve tens of millions of seniors — and he made a similar...
SSA Should Resume Mailing Statements to Almost All Workers
December 5, 2019
A bipartisan bill from Reps. John Larson and Vern Buchanan and Senators Ron Wyden and Bill Cassidy would clarify that the Social Security Administration (SSA) must mail statements to almost all workers. Though the law already...
Senate Bill Would Cut Social Security Operations Again
October 7, 2019
This summer’s budget deal between President Trump and congressional leaders offers enough total discretionary dollars to give the Social Security Administration (SSA) a much-needed funding boost in 2020, but the Senate majority plans to...
Social Security: A Vital Protection for African American People of All Ages
July 24, 2019
Social Security is a critical source of income for African American people of all ages and has reduced economic disparities between African American and white families. That’s especially important given recent findings from an Urban Institute study that we commissioned, on...
Trump Poverty Line Proposal Would Hurt Seniors, People With Disabilities
June 12, 2019
The Trump Administration is considering whether to use a lower inflation measure to calculate annual adjustments to the federal poverty line. This approach would ultimately...
SSA Staffing Shortage Hurts Hard-Working Americans
August 29, 2018
Years of SSA cuts have already taken their toll, causing the agency to lose 12 percent of its staff since 2010, close field offices, and shorten office hours, even as it faced record-high workloads.
Social Security Lifts 1.7 Million Children Out of Poverty
August 14, 2018
Eighty-three years ago today, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. To mark the occasion, we’ve updated our backgrounder on Social Security, a vital program to which nearly every American contributes and from which nearly every American ultimately benefits....
