EXHIBIT
1:
Summary of the PUMS-II National Results
Introduction
The Social Security
Administration (SSA) set a goal in its Agency Strategic Plan (ASP)
"to strengthen public understanding of Social Security programs."
To reach this goal, SSA's objective is to ensure that, by the year
2005, 90% of Americans will be knowledgeable about Social Security
programs.
In order to measure
progress toward achieving this goal, SSA developed the Public Understanding
Measurement System (PUMS) to establish baseline data on the public's
knowledge and to track changes in the public's level of knowledge
through the year 2005. The PUMS initiative provides SSA with data
and information needed to design annual public education programs
targeted to address specific knowledge or performance gaps (e.g.,
areas where public knowledge is lower than 90%) and to evaluate
the effectiveness of SSA public education initiatives in achieving
its strategic objective.
SSA contracted
with The Gallup Organization to develop and conduct the PUMS surveys.
At this point, national surveys have been completed for 1998 and
1999 (referred to as PUMS-I and PUMS-II, respectively). For PUMS-II,
a new section was added to the survey instrument to measure the
usefulness and ease of understanding of the Social Security Statement.
In addition to the national survey, a one-year knowledge tracking
study [1] was initiated in November 1999. This study was
designed to test the effectiveness of various forms of public education
and outreach in raising public awareness and knowledge of Social
Security. The knowledge-tracking study is being carried out in sixteen
communities located in the Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, and San
Francisco SSA regions. The knowledge-tracking instrument also includes
the section concerning the Social Security Statement and an additional
section on local outreach and education awareness. The results of
the knowledge-tracking study will be available in the fall of 2000.
The national and
knowledge-tracking survey instruments were developed through a collaborative
effort between Gallup survey design experts and SSA officials. National
Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) and academic experts were also
consulted during this process. The resulting telephone survey instruments
are 12 and 13 minutes in length for the national and knowledge-tracking
studies, respectively. Both surveys are programmed in English and
Spanish and offered in other languages when needed. Four thousand
(4,000) respondents were surveyed for PUMS-II (400 in each SSA region).
Twelve thousand (12,000) respondents are being surveyed for the
knowledge-tracking survey (three thousand per quarter).
The purpose of
this briefing book is to summarize the most notable findings of
the PUMS-II national survey, completed January 25, 2000.
Overall
Knowledge Scores [2]
The overall knowledge level of the adult population did not increase
significantly between PUMS-I and PUMS-II. The results of PUMS-II
indicate that 56.6% of the public is knowledgeable about Social
Security programs as compared to 54.9% in PUMS-I.
In addition, 24.1%
of the public is "close to knowledgeable" (e.g., responded
correctly to 11 or 12 of the 19 knowledge indicators) in PUMS-II.
Significant
Changes between PUMS-I and PUMS-II
The results of
PUMS-II are significantly different from the results of PUMS-I for
a number of knowledge indicators. The following knowledge indicators
received scores in PUMS-II that are significantly higher than the
corresponding scores received in PUMS-I.
·
Early retirement.
Knowledge that an individual can receive some retirement benefits
before the full retirement age rose from 61.8% to 65.4%.
·
Exact age
of early retirement. Knowledge that the exact age of eligibility
for some retirement benefits is 62 rose from 45.6% to 48.9%.
·
Change in
the retirement age. Knowledge that the age for receiving full Social
Security retirement benefits is increasing rose from 65.1% to 71.7%.
·
Benefits
relate to earnings. Knowledge that the amount of monthly Social
Security retirement benefits depends on the level of past earnings
rose from 88.9% to 91.8%.
The following
knowledge indicators received scores in PUMS-II that are significantly
lower than the corresponding scores received in PUMS-I.
·
Use of Social
Security Taxes. Knowledge of the use of Social Security taxes fell
from 81.1% to 78.0%.
·
Fewer Workers,
Future. Knowledge about the insufficient number of workers to finance
future benefits fell from 60.7% to 57.4%.
·
Not Food
Stamps. Knowledge that Social Security does not pay for the food
stamp programs fell from 50.2% to 46.0%.
It is noteworthy
that the indicators that increased significantly have high personal
relevance while the indicators that decreased significantly are
more system-related.
Another significant
change between PUMS-I and PUMS-II is an increase in the level of
confidence that Social Security benefits will be available for the
public when they retire (from 38% to 44%).
Receipt
and Awareness of the Social Security Statement
Two pivotal factors
in increasing the level of public knowledge about Social Security
are receipt and awareness of the Social Security Statement.
·
Receipt
of the Statement increased from 20.3% in PUMS-I to 24.2% in PUMS-II,
although the difference is not statistically significant.
·
Awareness
of the Statement increased significantly from 49.5% in PUMS-I of
the public to 62.2% in PUMS-II.
In addition to
being statistically significant, the increased awareness of the
Social Security Statement is meaningful, because awareness generally
precedes a perceived need for information.
Relationship
between the Social Security Statement, Knowledge, and Confidence
Receipt and knowledge of receiving a Social Security Statement
significantly increase knowledge of Social Security programs. Sixty-eight
percent (68.0%) of those who recall receiving a Statement are knowledgeable.
Furthermore, knowledge about Social Security programs significantly
increases confidence that Social Security retirement benefits will
be there for you when you retire. The relationship can be modeled
as follows:
Receipt
of an SS Statement = Knowledge + Confidence
Response
to the Social Security Statement
The proportion
of the public (24% or about 48 million people) who recall having
received a Social Security Statement had a positive response to
it.
·
82.4% of
the public (about 39 million people) report finding the Statement
to be very to somewhat useful in increasing their knowledge of benefits
that may affect them directly.
·
78.8% of
the public (about 37 million people) report finding the Statement
to be very to somewhat useful in helping to determine their level
of need for additional sources of retirement income.
·
66.0% of
the public (about 32 million people) report finding the Statement
to be very to somewhat useful in helping with their financial planning.
·
83.7% of
the public (about 40 million people) report finding the Statement
to be very to somewhat easy to understand.
In addition, as
a result of receiving a Social Security Statement, millions of Americans
report being much more likely to take action to increase their own
financial security.
·
52.4% of
the public (about 25 million people) report being much more likely
to file the statement with their important records.
·
16.9% of
the public (about 8 million people) report being much more likely
to contact the Social Security Administration for more information.
·
13.5% of
the public (about 6.3 million people) report being much more likely
to contact a financial advisor.
·
16.1% of
the public (about 7.6 million people) report being much more likely
to change their retirement plans.
Comparison
of Social Security Statement and PEBES
The Social Security Statement is easier to understand than the
PEBES document. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Social Security Statement
recipients reported finding it to be very easy to understand, while
50% reported finding the PEBES document very easy to understand.
Ease of understanding is also reflected in the likelihood of recipients
to contact SSA. One in five recipients (20%) of PEBES recipients
stated that they are much more likely to contact SSA, while just
over one in ten (12%) of Statement recipients feel likewise.
SSA
Public Education Activities
While public need
for Social Security information remains high, with over 20% of the
population having sought information about Social Security, the
public's response to SSA's public education activities is primarily
positive.
·
SSA continues
to be the preferred source for information about Social Security
programs. Of the 22.8% of the public (about 46 million people) who
requested Social Security information, 80.8% (about 40 million people)
report having requested this information from SSA.
·
Use of SSA's
website (SSA Online) as a source of information more than doubled
from 1998 to 1999. Five percent (5%) of the public's reported requests
for information (nearly 2 million contacts) were made via SSA's
website.
·
74% of those
who both contacted SSA and received a Social Security Statement
(18 million people) were knowledgeable about Social Security programs.
FOOTNOTES
[1] the knowledge-tracking
study is also known as the "Move the Needle" study.
[2] respondents
are considered to be "knowledgeable" about Social Security
programs if they respond correctly to at least 13 of the 19 knowledge
indicators.
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