A New Issue Brief from The Century Foundation Offers Ten Reasons Not to Cut Social Security Benefits

Feb 17, 2011

Authors: TCF

Publisher(s): The Century Foundation

February 17, 2011 – Social Security benefits could be subject to cuts under new legislation currently being crafted by a bipartisan group of senators. The group’s proposal would trigger new taxes and budget cuts if Congress fails to meet a set of mandatory spending targets and other fiscal goals aimed at reducing federal deficits. While the proposal separates Social Security from other programs, it proposes that if efforts to reduce Social Security costs failed, the plan put forward in December by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform--which included an assortment of benefit cuts--would go to Congress for an up-or-down vote.

In a new issue brief from The Century Foundation, Greg Anrig, vice president for policy and programs, argues against the growing consensus that the only fiscally responsible course of action is to curtail payments to Social Security beneficiaries. In Ten Reasons Not to Cut Social Security Benefits, he explains why that perspective is wrong.

The ten reasons not to cut Social Security Benefits are:

1. Social Security is not responsible for federal deficits.
2. Social Security’s benefit levels are far from overly generous, and compared to other countries, rank near the bottom in the share of a retired worker’s past earnings that it replaces.
3. Those modest payments already are scheduled to be reduced substantially.
4. Private pension coverage is weak and uncertain.
5. Real estate equity has proven to be an unreliable source of retirement savings.
6. Most retirees have minimal income sources beyond Social Security.
7. It has become increasingly difficult for older workers to keep good jobs.
8. The public is strongly opposed to all forms of benefit cuts.
9. There are less painful ways to ensure that Social Security will be adequately funded indefinitely.
10. Life expectancies vary widely among different groups of Americans.

A short video, “Learn More: Social Security Under Attack,” is being released concurrently with the issue brief. It features some of the nation’s top experts on Social Security and reinforces the central themes in Ten Reasons Not to Cut Social Security Benefits,  which is that Social Security is fundamentally important to the fiscal health and well-being of American families across a broad spectrum of age and income.

Visit The Century Foundation web site to download the issue brief or view the video.To learn more about our publications and expertise on issues related to retirement security, visit www.tcf.org/retirement.

Greg Anrig is available for interviews about this issue brief and other issues related to the debate over the federal budget.