Bipartisan Breakthrough: Rare Agreement Emerges on How to Strengthen Social Security

A Path Forward on Social Security

Given the polarizing nature of Social Security funding debates, Republicans and Democrats in Washington have been unable to make meaningful progress on solutions that would shore up the program. But new research shows that “very large bipartisan majorities” of everyday Americans actually agree on a number of changes that could strengthen it and ensure benefits can be paid in full for years to come.

Risks Ahead?

Without a legislative solution, Social Security trust fund reserves are on track to be depleted just over a decade from now. At that point, only 83% of benefits would be paid to recipients.

A Shift in Perspective

Some of the changes with bipartisan support include ideas that are typically thought of as unpopular, like increasing the 6.2% Social Security payroll tax and raising the retirement age, but there’s a key caveat. Unlike traditional surveys that simply poll respondents on their support for policy proposals, this one — from the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation — included an educational component.

Informed Opinions

Participants were asked to read a briefing with information about Social Security taxes, benefit structure, and the funding issue before answering questions. The results show there’s hope for the country to come together and solve this issue, but it will take a reckoning with the magnitude of the problem at hand, said Ron Gebhardtsbauer, emeritus professor of actuarial science at Penn State.

A Way Forward

Here are the four proposals that are broadly supported by Republicans and Democrats in the survey, which oversamples swing states:

* 87% support subjecting wages over $400,000 to the Social Security payroll tax
* 86% support gradually increasing the payroll tax from 6.2% to 6.5% over six years
* 89% support gradually raising the retirement age from 67 to 68 by 2033
* 92% support reducing benefits for the top 20% of earners by income

Putting it All Together

Put together, these four changes would address 101% of Social Security’s 75-year funding shortfall, which would provide a comfortable buffer from an actuarial perspective, according to the report.

Moving Forward

Despite the recent gridlock on Social Security fixes, the survey data above suggests there may be more room for consensus that previously thought. Stephen Goss, chief actuary at the Social Security Administration, referred to the financial shortfalls the program is facing in the future as “very remediable.”
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