22 January 2013
AID: The age-old aid for the elderly is under pressure.
By Kate Doak, Staff Writer
The Social Security System is an age-old program that has helped millions of Americans overcome poverty, hunger and health problems. Unfortunately, the rise in population of the elderly caused by the baby boom of the forties and fifties is going to put a strain on the social security system—a strain even greater than right now. When today’s teenagers and elementary schoolers reach adulthood, the majority of baby boomers will be relying on Social Security payments coming from a smaller amount of workers than ever.
Social Security is a financial safety net for the elderly and disabled in the United States. Developed in the 1930s as part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, Social Security provides financial assistance to elderly and disabled citizens through taxes from the working class. While at first it faced many problems, it eventually came to be viewed by Republicans and Democrats alike as a fundamental program in the United States. This, however, is going to change.
Soon enough, the baby boomers will all enter retirement, flooding the Social Security program with beneficiaries, which is estimated to drain the Social Security Trust Fund by 2040 unless adjustments are made. This is a serious issue and changes need to be made so that future generations are not heavily burdened. As much as both major parties agree that something needs to be done, Republicans and Democrats tend to disagree heavily on how to handle the issue. Republicans tend to generally favor either major cuts or a complete dismantling of the program. Rick Perry in his 2010 book, Fed Up, calls the Social Security Program “a crumbling monument to the failure of the New Deal.” Perry, along with many Republicans, feel that the Social Security Program is destined to completely fail at some point in the near future. Democrats, however, seem to prefer taking away from other programs and keeping Social Security stable for future generations.
While this issue is difficult to resolve, out there somewhere is a solution. Taking down the whole system is not a good idea. Who knows what may happen if the system is destroyed. The elderly and disabled could return to the lives of poverty they had endured before the New Deal, and the only back-up people would have would be their personal savings (which are not the most easily acquired these days). The government needs to find another way to fund the program by reducing spending and, unfortunately, raising taxes. This is a very important program that cannot afford to fail.