Social Security keeps millions of Americans – older and younger – out of poverty, and reliance on Social Security benefits varies across demographic groups.
Social security is a self-funded program that provides key protections for beneficiaries, including inflation protection and benefits for spouses, survivors, children, and people with disabilities.
Social Security will continue to pay full benefits until 2034. At that point, revenue from workers will be able to pay 79 percent of scheduled benefits. To ensure that future generations receive adequate benefits, the program will need to be updated.
Demographic factors, such as greater longevity, changing family structures and lower birth rates, will affect both the long-term financing of the program and the needs of retirees for decades to come.
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