Social Security
The Social Security program was established by the Social Security Act of 1935 and is administered by the Social Security Administration. The program has two components: Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI), which provides benefits to retired workers and their families and to the survivors of deceased workers; and, Disability Insurance (DI) which provides benefits to disabled workers and their families.
Today, about 51 million Americans rely on Social Security with an average benefit of about $1,056. Benefits are earned through the contributions workers paid during their careers.
Currently, the Social Security system is generating surplus tax revenues. However, its board of trustees projects that the trust funds will be depleted in 2041, at which point an estimated 78% of benefits will be payable with incoming receipts.
Without Social Security, an estimated 48 percent of all American seniors would be living in poverty, and an estimated 53 percent of all senior women would be poor. Additionally, without Social Security, poverty rates for African Americans would more than double to 58 percent.
On average, Social Security provides about three-quarters of all retirement income for African American seniors, and 40 percent of African Americans rely on Social Security as their only source of income.
Of the roughly 600,000 people in the First Congressional District, there are 130,336 Social Security beneficiaries. The beneficiaries include 71,255 retired workers, 24,997 disabled workers, 14,222 widows and widowers and 14,532 Children.
While Social Security has some long-term challenges, we make sure to approach any major changes cautiously to ensure that the people who invested into it can rely on its continued strength and stability.
Congress must work in a bipartisan manner to find solutions that ensure the long-term solvency of Social Security. Social Security is one of the most important and successful programs ever created by the federal government so I oppose jeopardizing it by reducing benefits or risky privatization schemes. I strongly support sensible improvements like the Senior Citizens’ Freedom to Work Act of 2000, which removed penalties in the Social Security rules for seniors who want to work past age 65.
