A Push to Protect Social Security

When baseball fans arrive at the Long Island Ducks stadium on Thursday, Aug. 14, they will be treated to a birthday party for Social Security along with the minor-league game.

It’s one of a series of events organized by AARP New York this summer to bring attention to the importance of Social Security. The group is planning 90 events across the state in the 90 days leading up to the program’s 90th anniversary on Aug. 14.

With the retirement program facing a long-term funding challenge, it is more important than ever to celebrate its existence, says Francine Holland, an AARP New York volunteer who will lead the festivities at the Ducks game.

“We’re very concerned, in terms of making sure that [Social Security is] here for the long run,” says Holland, a 61-year-old educator living in Copiague. “People have put in their money.”

According to the 2025 Social Security Board of Trustees report, the program is paying out more to recipients each year than it collects in revenue. Unless Congress takes action by 2034, Social Security will only be able to pay out about 81 percent of its scheduled benefits, the trustees estimate. And this year, the Social Security Administration has been targeted for workforce reductions, with a goal of cutting 7,000 jobs.

Holland says she’s among those affected by the cuts. Earlier this year, she needed a tax document for her disabled mother, for whom she is a primary caretaker. She couldn’t reach anyone on the phone at the Social Security Administration despite multiple calls and long waits on hold. She finally went in person to her local field office and got the document she needed.

A Retirement Lifeline

Nearly 3.8 million New Yorkers received Social Security benefits in 2023, according to federal data. About 38 percent of state residents 65 and older live in families that rely on Social Security for at least half of their income, AARP Public Policy Institute research shows.

Changes to Social Security benefits could be more damaging for older New Yorkers than those in other states because housing costs are so high, especially in New York City, says Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor of economics at The New School for Social Research, a private institution in New York City. She says benefit reductions could lead to more homelessness among older adults.

“It will also affect women who are much more likely to sacrifice their own financial security or their [career] to take care of their older relatives,” notes Ghilarducci, author of “Work, Retire, Repeat: The Uncertainty of Retirement in the New Economy.”

This summer’s AARP events, which will mostly take place from mid-July to Aug. 14, will include educational sessions to help New Yorkers decide when to start claiming Social Security benefits and to discuss policy solutions that would shore up the program’s finances, says Joe Stelling, AARP New York’s senior associate state director for advocacy.

“Some of [the events] will be more celebratory of all the good Social Security has done, and some will be more serious in tone, ensuring we protect this program,” Stelling says.

On the celebratory side, AARP New York will light up buildings, bridges and other landmarks from Buffalo to New York City on Aug. 14.

At the Ducks game and other venues, AARP volunteers will collect signatures on petitions urging elected officials to protect Social Security and encourage people to get involved with related advocacy efforts.

AARP is also planning to collect and share stories about how Social Security impacts the lives of New Yorkers. The office has seen a big uptick in calls this year from AARP members in the state who are worried about changes at the Social Security Administration, Stelling notes.

Meryl Manthey, a 72-year-old AARP volunteer in Hempstead, plans to staff informational tables at outdoor concerts in Farmingville this summer and talk about Social Security on a local morning radio show on Aug. 14.

For Manthey, the message is clear: “I live in a 62-plus community, and there isn’t one person here who could do without it.”

Carina Storrs, a New York–based journalist, covers aging, health policy, infectious disease and other issues.

Also of interest:

• Celebrating Social Security as It Turns 90
• Meet 7 Americans Who Depend on Social Security Payments
• How Social Security and Medicare Transformed Aging in America