Report
Social Security Lifts More People Above the Poverty Line Than Any Other Program
Social Security benefits play a vital role in reducing poverty in every state. Without Social Security, 21.7 million more Americans would be poor.
Social Security
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Policy Basics
Social Security provides monthly benefits to retired workers and workers with disabilities, their dependents, and their survivors.
We examine Social Security’s effects on poverty and on particular demographic groups. We also analyze Social Security reform proposals to determine their likely impact on the program’s long-term solvency and its effectiveness in reducing poverty and hardship.
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Social Security Administration Needs Additional Funding to Avoid Exacerbating Customer Service Crisis
The Social Security Administration (SSA) faces a customer service crisis, with applicants for disability benefits and callers on hold at the agency’s toll-free number facing record-long waits. The...
Policymakers Should Raise SSI’s Harsh Savings Limits
A newly reintroduced bill would provide relief for low-income older and disabled beneficiaries of Supplemental Security Income (SSI), who face the strictest savings limits of any federal program....
Key Principles for Strengthening Social Security
It is critical that policymakers fill Social Security’s financing gap — and that they do so in a way that keeps the program’s promises to workers and beneficiaries and does more to protect...
The Case for Updating SSI Asset Limits
Raising or eliminating asset limits would reduce administrative burdens without dramatically increasing...
Raising Social Security’s Retirement Age Would Cut Benefits for All New Retirees
Some policymakers, such as those on the Republican Study Committee, have proposed to raise Social Security’s full retirement age to 70 and beyond.[1] Raising the retirement age cuts benefits for...
What the 2023 Trustees’ Report Shows About Social Security
Social Security can pay full benefits for 11 more years but then faces a significant, though manageable, funding...
Long Overdue Boost to SSA Funding Would Begin to Improve Service
The Social Security Administration (SSA), which has been struggling to serve the public after over a decade of restricted funding, has a chance to turn things around next year — but only if...
Social Security Is Not “Bankrupt”
The Social Security trustees will release their annual report on the program’s financial status on Friday, March 31, inevitably followed by alarmist headlines — but don’t be fooled. Although...
Important Investments, Significant Disappointments in Year-End Legislation
Finalizing a year-end omnibus bill is an important accomplishment for Congress, and the bipartisan bill released today includes several key investments, including significant, permanent advances in...
After Years of Budget Cuts, Increased Funding Would Help Social Security Administration Restore Staff and Improve Customer Service
As Congress works to fund the government for fiscal year 2023, policymakers should significantly increase funding for the Social Security Administration (SSA). In the continuing resolution (CR) that...