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Social Security benefits are calculated as a percentage of lifetime average earnings. Policymakers consider two factors when establishing the calculation of lifetime average earnings.
Older women experience higher poverty rates than older men. They also, as a rule, receive lower Social Security benefits.
From time to time, Social Security’s long-term solvency challenges have been used to justify basic structural changes.
The federal government subsidizes and incentivizes retirement savings through tax benefits for both individuals and employers.
Some employers, mainly larger and mid-sized ones, offer workers access to a retirement plan.
Social Security affords vital income protection to workers and their families. But it is more than a retirement program.
Successful proposals to achieve Social Security solvency and adequacy should adhere to the following principles. These principles should guide any updates to Social Security.
Some proposals for Social Security’s long-term solvency would base the receipt of Social Security benefits on the income people have outside of Social Security.
Recipients of Social Security benefits generally receive an annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).