Michael Sainato reports for The Guardian on Social Security’s failure to provide many retired Americans a livable income. Consequently, millions of people in their 70’s are still working in order to cover the cost of basic necessities, if they can find a job. At the same time, people with long-term disabilities are struggling to get Social Security benefits, reports Nancy Altman in The Hill.
Millions of Americans receive Social Security benefits of less than $10,000 a year. The average benefit is little more than $18,000 a year. These benefits represent all or most of people’s annual income; it is too often not enough to survive.
What’s equally troubling is that many older adults between the ages of 50 and 64 lost their jobs during the pandemic. Most of them relied on those jobs for their health insurance. And, many of them have not been able to find new jobs, likely in part because their health insurance costs are so high.
It’s time for Congress to increase Social Security benefits, which have not kept up with inflation over the years. If you consider Social Security benefits as a portion of people’s earnings before retirement, benefits in the US are not as high as they are in other wealthy nations. Moreover, in the US, these benefits can be taxed and they generally go towards the cost of people’s Medicare Part B premiums.
It’s also time for Congress to ensure that the Social Security Administration is granting disability benefits to the people who qualify for them in a timely fashion. President Biden has not ousted Trump’s SSA appointee, Commissioner Andrew Saul. Saul has made a point of denying people Social Security benefits to people who are entitled to them in the name of “program integrity.” Rather than ensuring that people who have earned their Social Security benefits receive them, SSA is making people with serious disabilities prove repeatedly that they cannot work.
Because Social Security benefits are often not meeting people’s needs, some Americans are moving to Mexico in retirement; it costs much less to live there.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- Raising the minimum wage helps workers and Social Security
- All Americans should contribute at the same rate to Social Security
- Will Congress support raising the cap on Social Security contributions in 2021?
- Medicare mental health care cost and access issues
- Six reasons why you and your loved ones should create advance directives
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