Social Security

Chart of the Day: Record Low Poverty Rate

By Michael Rainey

The extensive array of government assistance programs — including Social Security, unemployment insurance, veterans’ benefits, nutritional aid, rental assistance and the Earned Income Tax Credit —...
Democrat's New Taxes Wouldn't Hit Just Billionaires

By Michael Rainey

Some Democratic tax proposals are focused on making millionaires and billionaires pay more, but other households would be affected as well. Neil Irwin of The New York Times points out Tuesday that...
How Mitt Romney Wants to Save Social Security and Other Trust Funds

By Michael Rainey

A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney introduced legislation Tuesday that would create new congressional committees focused on the fiscal health of federal trust...
Number of the Day: $23 a Month

By Michael Rainey

The Social Security Administration on Thursday said the cost-of-living adjustment for 2020 would be 1.6%. That translates to a bump of about $23 on the average monthly benefit of $1,460. The 2020...
The Case for Giving Social Security to Children

By Michael Rainey

US social welfare programs reduced poverty by about two-thirds overall in 2018, according to an analysis of Census data by Matt Bruenig of the left-leaning People’s Policy Project. Bruenig offers a...

Elizabeth Warren Has a Plan to Expand Social Security

By Michael Rainey and Yuval Rosenberg

Elizabeth Warren released a plan Thursday to expand Social Security and raise benefit payments. Warren’s plan would: Immediately increase benefit payments by $200 a month. If enacted, Warren’s plan...
More Progress in Tackling Poverty, but Meager Gains for the Middle Class

By Yuval Rosenberg

The poverty rate fell for the fourth straight year in 2018, dropping to 11.8%, the lowest level since 2001, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. In all, some 38 million people were living in poverty...
Op-Ed of the Day: Fighting the Next Recession Now

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Jason Furman, the former chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Obama, has some advice for Congress: Start preparing for the next recession now. In a Wall Street...
Americans Are Missing Out on Trillions in Social Security

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Americans will lose out on $3.4 trillion in benefits by claiming Social Security too early, according to a new report from United Income, an investment management and financial planning company...
Growth of US Debt Slows, but Record Levels Still Ahead

By Michael Rainey

The national debt will reach “unprecedented levels” over the next 30 years, according to the new long-term budget outlook released Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office. Federal outlays will...

‘Things Are So Much Worse’ – but Does Anyone Care About the Deficit?

By Yuval Rosenberg

As we told you yesterday , the Congressional Budget Office estimated this week that the deficit for the first 11 months of fiscal 2018 totaled $895 billion, or $222 billion more than it was over the...
Social Security’s Troubling Trend

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Unequal gains in life expectancy over the last half-century between Americans with greater earnings and education and those of lower socioeconomic status mean that the benefits of Social Security are...
Trump Says He Made Social Security, Medicare Stronger. Fact-Checker Says False.

By The Fiscal Times Staff

President Trump said this week that "Democrats want to destroy Medicare. If you look at what they’re doing, they’re going to destroy Medicare. And we will save it. We will keep it going. We’re making...
Happy Birthday, Social Security!

By Michael Rainey

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law 83 years ago today, August 14, 1935. Here are some key facts about the program, courtesy of the Center on Budget and Policy...
The Deficit Is Up 20% This Year

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The federal deficit was 20 percent larger in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2018 than it was during the same time last year, the Congressional Budget Office announced Wednesday. Revenues rose 1...