Age Dependency Ratios and Social Security Solvency

Shrestha, Laura B.

Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service.

关键词: Social security;    Retirement income;    Old age pensions;   

RP-ID  :  RL32981
RP-ID  :  RL32981_2006Oct27

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

As highlighted by the Social Security Administration (SSA), the aging of the (United States) population, hastened by the impending retirement of the huge baby-boom generation, has caused policy-makers to question whether the U.S. Social Security system can meet the demands for retirement benefits in the future. Because the current system largely pays benefits through taxes paid by current workers, the financial health of the system is sensitive to the ratio of dependents to workers—sometimes called the age dependency ratio or support ratio. Trends and projections of dependency ratios, including the relationship between both older (years 65 and older) and younger (under age 20) dependents to the working-age population in the United States are considered in the first section of this demographic report. Next, the United States is compared to nine other nations, including the seven other members of the G8. In the final section, policy implications of the changing dependent-to-worker ratios are considered in the context of pay-as-you-go (paygo) social security systems.