An 9 page paper that begins by presenting the ratio of contributing workers to the beneficiaries of the program. The writer presents the highlights of the President's reform proposal, along with comments from the literature, including the pros and cons of the proposal. The writer then looks at the system in the UK as comparison. The end of the essay presents ideas for improving Social Security. Bibliography lists 8 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: MM12_PGsocsc.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
and an issue on Capital Hill for several years. What we do know is that the ratio of working contributors to the program to retires has decreased significantly. In 1950,
the ratio was 16-to-1; today, the ratio is 3.3-to-1; and the projected ratio for 2040 is 2-to-1 (Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, 2005; Lockhart, 2004). Translated, that means
in 1950, 16 workers contributed to the social security system for every 1 person receiving pension benefits; today, only 3.3 workers contribute to every 1 person receiving benefits (Chairman of
the Council of Economic Advisors, 2005; Lockhart, 2004). The system is directly linked to the nations demographics (Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, 2005). Lower birth rates over the
last two decades combined with increased life expectancies are a major cause of the changes in the ratio (Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, 2005). When the system was
originated, birth rates were high and people did not live that many years past retirement age. Today, people collect retirement benefits for 20 or 30 years. Clearly, the system
needs to be modified and certain changes have already occurred; full retirement benefits do not begin at age 65. Depending on when one was born, it is 65 plus a
certain number of months. For a person born in 1939, as an example, full retirement come at 65 plus 4 months; a person born in 1955 cannot collect full retirement
until they are 66 and 2 months (Social Security Administration, 2005). President Bush is proposing to change the process to give Americans more control over their retirement (Sloan, 2005). "A
younger worker would be given the option to set aside part of their payroll taxes in a personal retirement account" (Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, 2005). This investment