Social insurance programs are at the center of American politics. In fiscal terms, Medicare and the Social Security Administration’s programs for retirement, disability, worker’s compensation, and worker’s life insurance amount to roughly 41 percent of the federal budget. This fiscal centrality, however, does not rest on anything like a broader, public understanding of what makes […]

With higher than predicted labor force participation rates, Social Security may have a shot at surviving longer. Social Security might have a shot at surviving for another generation — and that’s thanks to 78.1 million individuals who will be contributing to it. These 78.1 million individuals who come after millennials and were born after 1997 […]

When Brenda Holt learned that the federal government planned to close her local Social Security office, she swung into action. That field office in Quincy, Fla., served Gadsden County in the state’s panhandle, where Ms. Holt is a commissioner; closing the office would force residents who needed help managing their benefits to travel 25 miles […]

Social Security benefits play a vital role in reducing poverty in every state, and they lift more Americans above the poverty line than any other program. Without Social Security, 22.1 million more Americans would be poor, according to analysis using the March 2018 Current Population Survey. Although most of those whom Social Security keeps out […]

The Strengthen Social Security Coalition consists of over 350 national and state organizations, representing over 50 million Americans, including seniors, women, people with disabilities, workers, people of color, and veterans. The coalition is strongly opposed to President Trump’s nominee, Mr. Andrew M. Saul, of New York, to be the next commissioner of the Social Security […]