Social Security is one of the most popular and successful government programs in the history of our country. For more than 80 years, through good times and bad, Social Security has paid out every benefit owed to every eligible American on time and without delay.
In 2021, Social Security lifted 26.3 million Americans out of poverty, including more than 18 million seniors. Before it was created in 1935, about half of our nation’s seniors were living in poverty. Today, the senior poverty rate is 10.3 percent.
Yet, despite this success, tens of millions of seniors and 25 percent of people with disabilities are still struggling to get by, and many older workers fear that they will never be able to retire with security and dignity.
The most recent evidence indicates that nearly 40 percent of seniors rely on Social Security for a majority of their income and one in every seven seniors rely on it for more than 90 percent of their income. And to make matters worse, nearly half of Americans age 55 and older have no retirement savings. Meanwhile, the average Social Security benefit is only $1,688 a month.
Social Security is not going broke. Social Security has a $2.85 trillion surplus in its trust fund and can pay every promised benefit to every eligible American until the year 2035. After that, the Social Security Administration estimates that there will be enough funding available to pay 80 percent of promised benefits.
