Young Adults Care about Social Security

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Originally posted by Young Invincibles

Written by: Lynneah Ciera Brown and Alexander Lundrigan, Young Invincibles

Introduction

Social Security was established in 1935 to promote economic security for Americans and is essential to providing earned benefits for retired workers (e.g., 67 is the full retirement age for those born after 1960). Social Security is designed to pay retired workers a lifetime sustainable income after retirement.

The funding for the Social Security program comes primarily from payroll taxes on current workers. Unfortunately, the benefits being paid out by the program currently exceed the amount of funds being put in from current workers.

Without action from Congress, Social Security will be unable to pay 100% of promised benefits in a decade. Many Americans are unsure that when they retire, there will be adequate funding available.

By 2034, some estimate that both retirees and current workers will receive only a reduced benefit of roughly 77% of their promised benefit. After 2034, Social Security will be able to pay approximately this level of reduced benefits until 2097.

Young Invincibles

Young Invincibles (YI) believes one way to get legislators to take action is to provide data on the importance and relevance of the Social Security program for current workers, especially those who are younger.

As such, we have conducted a study that provides data on a subset of young adults regarding the importance of Social Security, as well as their understanding and willingness to learn more about the program.

YI hopes this and future efforts will shine a light on the important issue of addressing Social Security solvency. YI will continue to educate young adults about the Social Security program and ensure their voices are amplified to lawmakers regarding the importance of the program.

Survey Findings

YI surveyed 198 respondents in various states within the United States from ages 18 to 45 to learn more about young adults’ perspective on the importance of Social Security and knowledge of the current program.

• Four in five respondents expect to rely on Social Security once they retire.
• 37% understand the meaning of “exhaustion” of the Social Security Trust Fund.  
• 83% indicate that they want to know more about Social Security for the sake of their own retirement planning. 
• 60% of respondents want to better understand how they can help their own loved ones take advantage of the program’s current benefits.
• 92% of respondents want to know more about how they can help preserve Social Security at a level of public policy. 

The need for young adults to become more educated about the program is pivotal because it provides them with another important tool towards their financial well-being.
Young adults also expressed a desire to help preserve Social Security for current and future retirees.
Knowledge to understand the components of the Social Security program (e.g., why was it enacted and how it works).

Policy Implications

• Organizations should conduct more outreach to young adults about Social Security and its importance.
• Additional outreach can be in the form of communicating on platforms that young adults frequent, trust, and feel their voices and perspectives are heard.
• Legislators should ensure young adults benefit from Social Security policies.
• Without legislative action, the Social Security program will face an across-the-board cut of at least 20% for all current and future retirees starting in 2034. Congress needs to take action before then to make sure this doesn’t happen.

Acknowledgements

• Matthew Eckel, former director of policy research, Young Invincibles
• Blake Kelly, federal strategy director, AARP
• Tom Nicholls, government affairs director financial security, AARP
• Rebecca Perron, senior research advisor, AARP

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