Social Security in the 21st Century :: essays research papers

The 2004 Report of the mixer credentials Trustees is in but the jury is still out arguing the findings of the report. Agree or non, the masses have a good idea of the final public opinion and they all agree that the current state of the social security musical arrangement has suffered, for a very long time, from an ongoing deficit problem that go away continue to grow unless immediate steps are taken to hide the problem. People, on both sides of the fence, argue in support or against the hot seats proposed plan to save the Social surety establishment. Yet, they all deliver and acknowledge that in reality a problem does exist and unless metric measures are taken, this problem cannot be controlled and will snow ball the Social Security System into bankruptcy.The Social Security system was designed in 1935 for a world that is very different from directly. In 1935, most women did not work outside the home. Today, about 60% of women work outside the home. In 1935, the averag e American did not live long enough to draw retirement benefits. Today, life expectancy is 77 years. (2004 Report of the Social Security Trustees, p. 81) Benefits are expected to rise dramatically over the next a few(prenominal) decades. Because benefits are tied to wage growth rather than inflation, benefits are maturement faster than the rest of the economy. This benefit formula was established in 1977. As a result, the current 20-year old contributor is promised benefits, which are 40% high than what will be paid to seniors who retire this year. However, the current system does not have the money to pay these promised benefits. Furthermore, the retirement of the Baby Boomers will further the problem. In just 2 years, the first of the Baby Boom coevals will begin to retire, putting added strain on a system that was not designed to meet the needs of the 21 century. By 2031, at that place will be almost twice as many fourth-year Americans as today, a drastic increase from 37 million today to 71 million. Currently, there are fewer workers to support our retirees. When Social Security was first created, there were 40 workers supporting every one retiree. At the same time, most workers did not live long enough to put one across retirement benefits from the system. Since then, the demographics of the society have changed dramatically where people are brio longer and having fewer children.