Social SecurityBy Matt Armo and Sydney te Wildt

What is Social Security?

• When you retire, the government gives you money every year to help you retain the lifestyle that you had while you were working.

• There is a base amount that everyone receives but some get more than others because of disabilities.

Background on Social Security

• In 1937, Social Security was started by Franklin D. Roosevelt. People started getting monthly sums in 1940.

• The problems started when the government took money out of the Social Security funds and used it to balance the budget.

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The Issue

• People want to retire and still be able to live the same lifestyle that they did pre-retirement. Social Security lets people do that.

• People should care about Social Security because it helps people have a less stressful retirement.

• However, a lot of the government debt is owed to the cost of Social Security. This impacts the economy and available funds for the people.

• This debt will compound over time. Though they say that the debt will be paid back after the Baby Boomers retire it will be hard to pay back because the debt just gets bigger and bigger every year.

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The Age Issue

• An issue of Social Security is the increase in the age of our population. People used to only live for, on average, 12 years after retirement (age 65). This age is rapidly going up.Now the life expectancy after age 65 is 15 years, and in the year 2040 it will be 17 years.

• Soon the number of elderly will increase so we will have to pay more people Social Security. This will make us lose more money than we already have lost. We used to have 5 people supporting every elderly person. But in 2030 we will probably only have 2.

Costs of Social Security

• According to the Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees, “The annual cost of Social Security benefits represented 4.8 percent of GDP in 2009 and is projected to increase gradually to 6.1 percent of GDP in 2035 and then decline to about 5.9 percent of GDP by 2050 and remain at about that level.”GDP is the value of all goods and services produced in the U.S..” (www.bankrate.com)

• “As of December 2000, more than a trillion dollars of the U.S. national debt is owed to the Social Security program. This amounts to $3,600 for every man, woman, and child living in the United States.” (www.justfacts.com)

More Costs of Social Security

• In order to keep Social Security alive like it is today in 75 years, the government will have to put 2 trillion dollars in the Social Security fund.That is only the estimate of the Congressional Budget Office. The estimate of the Social Security Trustees is 3.7 trillion dollars.

The Future• Imagine Social Security goes away

because it costs the government and the rest of the United States too much. For some, this will be okay because they have already saved enough money for the future. Others will have to work for a lot longer than generations before them have. People could be working until they are about 75 years old, 10 years longer than the normal retirement age in the United States. Or it could be worse, like it was before Social Security. Lots of homeless elderly people on the streets, unable to care for themselves and too old to work.

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Views of Both Parties• The Democratic Party would like

to keep Social Security. They want people to have a nice retirement and for everyone to be able to get money.

• According to The Democratic Platform for America, “Democrats believe in the progressive, guaranteed benefit that has ensured that seniors and people with disabilities receive a benefit not subject to the whims of the market or the economy. We oppose privatizing Social Security or raising the retirement age.”

• The Republican Party would like to make Social Security private. It would be on the stock market which means that it would be controlled by private businesses instead of the government. One of the Republicans’ main ideas is that there isn’t that much government control.

The Republican’s want to privatize Social Security while the Democrats want to keep it controlled by the government.

Graph From www.justfacts.com

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