social security

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Social Security is a federally administered social insurance program. The program was created in 1935; it was designed to mitigate the financial damage caused by the Great Depression. Social Security provides monthly cash stipends to the disabled and the elderly. As of December 2013, 58 million people were receiving Social Security payments (Social). Social Security is financially unsustainable because there is a significant difference in the number of retired and the number of workers paying into the system. This high retiree to worker ratio is wreaking havoc on the financial stability of Social Security. Fixing Social Security would require an increase in the Social Security tax, more stringent disability eligibility requirements, and a raise in the payroll ceiling.
Social Security currently receives funding from the Social Security tax; this tax currently stands at 6.2% for employers and workers. Social Security spends $1.3 trillion dollars per year on benefits for the disabled and the elderly (Reischauer). In order to keep Social Security’s deficit from skyrocketing, taxes must be increased. The current aforementioned tax rate accounts for $731 billion dollars in annual revenue accrued by the Social Security Administration. A 1.4% increase in the Social Security tax would keep Social Security funded indefinitely. This proposal was reiterated in a report from the National Academy of Social Insurance,
If tax rates were raised from the 6.2 percent paid by both workers and employer (a total of 12.4 percent) to 7.7 percent each (or 15.4 percent in total). In other words, the deficit would be eliminated if workers and employers each paid 1.5 percent of wages more in Social Security taxes.
The idea of raising the Social Security ta...

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...d if Congress stops engaging in debilitating partisan wrangling.

Works Cited

Miller, Mark. "Time to Raise." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 15 Mar. 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

Reich, Robert. "What's the 'Chained CPI,' Why It's Bad for Social Security and Why the White House Shouldn't Be Touting It (VIDEO)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 04 Apr. 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

Reischauer, Robert D., and Charles P. Blahous, III. "Social Security." Trustees Report Summary. Social Security Administration, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

Service, Jayna Omaye Medill News. "Senate Panel Uncovers Millions in Disability Fraud." USA Today. Gannett, 08 Oct. 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

"Social Security." Benefits for People with Disabilities. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

"Social Security." Benefits in Current Payment Status. Social Security Administration, n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

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