Social Security Proposals Leave Most Vulnerable On Shaky Ground

Social Security has got some changes coming in the near future.  With the wave of “baby boomers” getting closer and closer to retirement age the system is plain and simple not prepared to pay out as it has for other generations.

The maximum monthly Social Security Income benefit for a senior is $845 per month, $57 less than the federal poverty level.

A recent 2010 survey by The Senior Citizens’ League reported that more than 76% of seniors in the U.S. survive on smaller monthly incomes as a result of the annual cost of living adjustment being denied in 2010.  Ninety-two percent of those seniors’ monthly expenses increased between $40 and $120 in 2009, while their income did not increase at all. Nearly half reported having difficulties paying their electrical and utility bills; 46% cut back on hospital and doctors visits to make up the difference.

The bottom line is that seniors relying on Social Security Income are no longer living on a fixed income, but a shrinking income.

An article in today’s The Washington Independent examines the options being laid on the table to salvage, strip or scrap the program all together.

There are several schools of thought on how to fix this benefit, the two front runners being to raise the age requirement to receive the benefit, the other is to change the annual cost of living adjustments to adhere to the consumer price index rather than the wage index.

“This logic works in theory,” the article contends, “But in practice, it would seriously impact lower-income Americans. Why? Seniors spend differently than average-aged workers: They buy more healthcare goods and services. And healthcare costs are skyrocketing well above the average inflation rate, so lowering benefits would make it more difficult for retirees to cover their costs. The more economically strapped the American, the more it would hurt.”

As far as raising the age to receive the benefit, supporters argue that the average American lives longer than they once did and therefor would spend more years working.  “The hardship of raising the retirement age falls disproportionately on low-income workers who work in physically demanding professions, jobs they may not be able to continue through their seventh decade.”

In fact, low-income Americans’ lifespans have increased only two years, while their wealthy counterparts’ have increased seven years.

Hopefully there will be discussion of what these proposals mean to the daily lives and survival of the most vulnerable in our society, not just dollars and cents in a budget.