The Distributional Aspects of Social Security and Social Security Reform
Martin Feldstein and Jeffrey B. Liebman
Abstract
Social security is the largest and perhaps the most popular program run by the federal government. Given the projected increase in both individual life expectancy and sheer number of retirees, however, the current system faces an eventual overload. Alternative proposals have emerged, ranging from reductions in future benefits to a rise in tax revenue to various forms of investment-based personal retirement accounts. As this volume suggests, the distributional consequences of these proposals are substantially different and may disproportionately affect those groups who depend on social security ... More
Social security is the largest and perhaps the most popular program run by the federal government. Given the projected increase in both individual life expectancy and sheer number of retirees, however, the current system faces an eventual overload. Alternative proposals have emerged, ranging from reductions in future benefits to a rise in tax revenue to various forms of investment-based personal retirement accounts. As this volume suggests, the distributional consequences of these proposals are substantially different and may disproportionately affect those groups who depend on social security to avoid poverty in old age. Together, these studies show that appropriately designed investment-based social security reforms can effectively reduce the long-term burden of an aging society on future taxpayers, increase the expected future income of retirees, and mitigate poverty rates among the elderly.
Keywords:
social security,
federal government,
life expectancy,
retirees,
tax revenue,
personal retirement accounts,
investment,
poverty,
taxpayers
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2002 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780226241067 |
| Published to Chicago Scholarship Online: February 2013 |
DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226241890.001.0001 |
