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Public Opinions on Social Security

A wide range of polls have consistently shown that the American public strongly supports Social Security, across party and demographic lines. For instance, a poll sponsored by NASI and the Rockefeller Foundation found that nearly nine in ten Americans (88%) say Social Security is more important than ever as a result of today’s economic crisis. Three-quarters of Americans say it is critical to preserve Social Security even if it means that working Americans have to pay higher taxes to do so.

With 56 million people receiving Social Security benefits, Americans recognize that Social Security is a crucial program.  Across party affiliations, the large majority of Americans say they don’t mind paying Social Security taxes because of the stability and support the benefits provide to millions of retired Americans, disabled persons, and children and widowed spouses of deceased workers. 93% of Democrats, 85% of Independents, and 81% of Republicans express this view. Americans are also willing to pay for Social Security because they value it for their own families (75%) and for themselves (72%).

 

Table 1 -- Reasons Americans Don’t Mind Paying Social Security Taxes
Please tell me if you agree, or disagree with the statement.   “I don’t mind paying Social Security taxes because:
Reason don’t mind paying
Social Security taxes
Total
Democrats
Independents
Republicans
Percent who strongly or somewhat agree
I know that I will be receiving the benefits when I retire
72
84
69
63
I know that if my parents, grandparents, or other family members did not receive Social Security, I would have to support them in their retirement
75
82
76
68
It provides security and stability to millions of retired Americans, the disabled, and children and widowed spouses of deceased workers
87
93
85
81
Source: Social Security Survey sponsored by the National Academy of Social Insurance and the Rockefeller Foundation, July-August 2009. N=1488.

 

These views also cut across age and income lines. 88% of Americans ages 18-34 say Social Security is more important than ever as a result of today’s economic crisis, as do 90% of those 65 and older. By income, this statement is supported by 92% of people with family incomes under $30,000, more than 90% of those earning between $30,000 and $99,000, and 72% of those earning over $100,000.

Pollster Danny Franklin of Benenson Strategy Group, which conducted the Social Security poll for NASI, concluded:
 
What we’re seeing overall … is that the conventional wisdom among Washington elites does not match the attitudes of the public. For years, the media and pundits have drummed up concerns of a crisis that will require cutting back on our commitment to retirement security. As the economic crisis has eroded the government’s fiscal position, this talk has increased. But Americans look at the insecurity they’re seeing all around and take the opposite approach. Social Security, for 75 years, has provided Americans with the sense they will be protected against the vicissitudes of the economy, the market, and their own fortunes. Their response to this recent moment of insecurity is not to pull back from our responsibility to one another, but in fact, to double-down.”
 

For more information, see:

Read what some NASI members think:*

* The views of NASI members are their own and not an official position of the National Academy of Social Insurance or its funders.