In the United States,Social Security is the commonly used term for the federal Old-Age,Survivors,and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program and is administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA). The Social Security Act was passed in 1935,and the existing version of the Act,as amended,encompasses several social welfare and social insurance programs.
The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security,a social insurance program consisting of retirement,disability and survivor benefits. To qualify for most of these benefits,most workers pay Social Security taxes on their earnings;the claimant's benefits are based on the wage earner's contributions. Otherwise benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are given based on need.
The Brookings Institution,often stylized as Brookings,is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences,primarily in economics,metropolitan policy,governance,foreign policy,global economy,and economic development.
Dov S. Zakheim is an American businessman,writer,and former official of the United States government. In the Reagan administration,he held various Department of Defense positions. In 2000,Zakheim was a member of "The Vulcans",a group of foreign policy advisors assisting George W. Bush's presidential campaign. From 2001 to 2004 he was Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Defense.
This article concerns proposals to change the Social Security system in the United States. Social Security is a social insurance program officially called "Old-age,Survivors,and Disability Insurance" (OASDI),in reference to its three components. It is primarily funded through a dedicated payroll tax. During 2015,total benefits of $897 billion were paid out versus $920 billion in income,a $23 billion annual surplus. Excluding interest of $93 billion,the program had a cash deficit of $70 billion. Social Security represents approximately 40% of the income of the elderly,with 53% of married couples and 74% of unmarried persons receiving 50% or more of their income from the program. An estimated 169 million people paid into the program and 60 million received benefits in 2015,roughly 2.82 workers per beneficiary. Reform proposals continue to circulate with some urgency,due to a long-term funding challenge faced by the program as the ratio of workers to beneficiaries falls,driven by the aging of the baby-boom generation,expected continuing low birth rate,and increasing life expectancy. Program payouts began exceeding cash program revenues in 2011;this shortfall is expected to continue indefinitely under current law.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) is a progressive American think tank that analyzes the impact of federal and state government budget policies. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization,the Center's stated mission is to "conduct research and analysis to help shape public debates over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that policymakers consider the needs of low-income families and individuals in these debates."
Heather Marie Boushey is an American economist. Boushey currently serves as a member of President Joe Biden's Council of Economic Advisers. She also serves as the Chief Economist for the Invest in America Cabinet at the White House. She previously was the president and CEO of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. She has also worked as an economist at the Center for American Progress and the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee.
The Maryland School of Public Policy is one of 14 schools at the University of Maryland,College Park. The school is located inside the Capital Beltway and ranks 16th nationally for schools of public policy according to U.S. News &World Report (2012).
Andrew Marshall Saul is an American businessman and political candidate who served as commissioner of the United States Social Security Administration from 2019 to 2021. Saul was fired from the position by President Joe Biden on July 9,2021,after refusing to offer his requested resignation. Saul stated that his discharge was illegal.
The inequality of wealth has substantially increased in the United States in recent decades. Wealth commonly includes the values of any homes,automobiles,personal valuables,businesses,savings,and investments,as well as any associated debts.
Alicia Haydock Munnell is an American economist who is the Peter F. Drucker Professor of Management Sciences at Boston College's Carroll School of Management. Educated at Wellesley College,Boston University,and Harvard University,Munnell spent 20 years as an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston,where she researched wealth,savings,and retirement among American workers. She served in the Bill Clinton administration as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers. Since 1997 she has been a professor at Boston College and director of its Center for Retirement Research,where she writes on retirement income policy.
Brian Christopher Deese is an American economic and political advisor who was the 13th director of the National Economic Council,serving under President Joe Biden.
Maya MacGuineas is president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. She is a frequent commentator on issues such as the federal budget,national debt,taxes,the economy,retirement policy,government reform,and health care.
Alondra Nelson is an American academic,policy advisor,non-profit administrator,and writer. She is the Harold F. Linder chair and professor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study,an independent research center in Princeton,New Jersey. From 2021 to 2023,Nelson was deputy assistant to President Joe Biden and principal deputy director for science and society of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP),where she performed the duties of the director from February to October 2022. She was the first African American and first woman of color to lead OSTP. Prior to her role in the Biden Administration,she served for four years as president and CEO of the Social Science Research Council,an independent,nonpartisan international nonprofit organization. Nelson was previously professor of sociology at Columbia University,where she served as the inaugural Dean of Social Science,as well as director of the Institute for Research on Women and Gender. She began her academic career on the faculty of Yale University.
C. Eugene "Gene" Steuerle is an American economist,a Richard B. Fisher chair and Institute Fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington,DC,and a columnist under the title The Government We Deserve.
Yung-Ping Chen was an American economist and gerontologist of Chinese origin. He pioneered the concept of home equity conversion in the United States and developed innovative approaches to the funding of Social Security benefits and long-term care. His scholarship contributed to a better understanding of the economic,political,and social implications and challenges created by the "mass aging" phenomenon—the ongoing and unprecedented shift to an increasingly elder-populated society.
Benjamin H. Harris is an American economist who is currently the Vice President and Director of the Economic Studies program at the Brookings Institution. Throughout his career,he has served in several public-service positions,most notably as the chief economist and chief economic advisor to Vice President Joe Biden from 2014 until the end of the Obama administration,and as Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy and Chief Economist of the U.S. Treasury. Harris was the executive director of the Kellogg Public-Private Initiative at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University,the Chief Economist to the evidence-based policy organization Results for America,and the founder of the economic policy consulting firm Cherrydale Strategies. He has been a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal and regularly appears on cable television to discuss macroeconomics and public policy.
Damon Jones is an American economist and associate professor at the Harris School of Public Policy in the University of Chicago. Alongside his academic research,Jones is a popular science communicator and regularly provides expert commentary on issues related to economics and public policy. During the COVID-19 pandemic he investigated the disproportionate impact of coronavirus disease on communities of color,and delivered evidence on his findings before the United States House Committee on the Budget.
Michelle Holder is an American economist who is an Associate Professor of Economics at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the City University of New York. Her research focuses on the position of Black workers and women of color in the American labor market,including wage gaps based on race and gender as well as unemployment rate differences by race and gender. In June 2021,she was named president and CEO of The Washington Center for Equitable Growth. Holder stepped down in 2022 from the presidency and transitioned into the role of distinguished senior fellow with the organization through 2023.
Jonathan Schwabish is an economist,speaker,author,and professor at American University and Georgetown University. He is a senior fellow with the Income and Benefits Policy Center at the Urban Institute.
