With lawmakers considering future changes to Social Security, it’s important to know what their constituents want — across political parties, generations, and income levels. Join the National Academy of Social Insurance for the release of a groundbreaking new public opinion study.

Social Security faces a long-term funding challenge. How do Americans want to deal with it? This survey explores Americans’ views on Social Security and uses an innovative application of trade-off analysis, a technique widely used in market research, to explore the kinds of policy changes that Americans want for Social Security and are willing to pay for. If voters could choose their own policy package, what would it look like?  

Survey participants chose among policy options that would reduce benefits, increase benefits, or raise revenues to put the program on solid footing for future generations. Speakers will present findings from the Academy’s new report — Americans Make Hard Choices on Social Security: A Survey With Trade-Off Analysis — and discuss the implications for policymakers.

Findings:

• William J. Arnone, Board Chair, National Academy of Social Insurance
• Elisa A. Walker, Income Security Policy Analyst, National Academy of Social Insurance
• Mathew Greenwald, President and CEO, Greenwald & Associates

Observations:

• Jason Furman, Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers

Implications:

• Moderator: Mark Miller, Columnist, Reuters
• Andrea Louise Campbell, Professor of Political Science, MIT
• Maya MacGuineas, President, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget 
• Maya Rockeymoore, President and CEO, Center for Global Policy Solutions
• Virginia P. Reno, Vice President for Income Security Policy, National Academy of Social Insurance