Immigration Can Help Save Social Security
But Social Security is in trouble.
The number of people reaching retirement age has been
growing faster than the number of workers contributing, and Social Security has
been running in the red for the last 15 years. The
shortfall is projected to drain the Social Security trust fund entirely in just
eight years, which could lead to massive benefit cuts.
How can this calamity be avoided? One answer is to lift the
cap on income taxed for Social Security. That would ensure wealthier Americans
pay into Social Security at the same rate that working and middle class
Americans have to.
Another is simply to welcome more immigrants — and stop
deporting the law-abiding people who’ve already settled here. Since a growing
shortage of workers is a major problem for Social Security, immigrants can be
part of the solution.
Too Few Working-Age People to Sustain the Swelling Number of Retired People.
Social Security is beset by a perfect storm of population
developments.
The number of people who receive benefits is mushrooming.
The 76 million-strong “Baby Boomer” generation is retiring. When the last of
that cohort reach retirement age, the number of retirement-age Americans will
have almost doubled compared to 2008.
Retirees are also living longer, so Social Security
must pay benefits for longer. And there are fewer working adults
because the birth rate has been declining for decades.
This adds up to too few working-age people to sustain the snowballing
number of retired people. In 1960, five workers paid into Social Security for
each person taking money out. Today there are fewer than three.
Trump’s plan to deport 8.3 million undocumented workers would make this
worse.
Contrary to Trump’s lies, undocumented workers actually subsidize the system to the tune
of $25 billion per year, since they contribute payroll taxes but can’t
receive benefits unless they get a pathway to legal residency. Immigrants are
on average younger than U.S.-born Americans and offer both immediate and
longer-term boosts to the working population.
Payroll Deductions for One Million Immigrants Would
Offset One Quarter of the Social Security Shortfall.
A 25-year-old lawfully admitted immigrant who gets a job
begins contributing to Social Security immediately, but won’t start drawing
benefits until they retire decades later. Immigrants also tend to have
more children than U.S.-born Americans, lifting the future supply of young
workers.
The impact — and benefit to the health of Social Security —
could be gigantic. Social Security Administration actuaries did the math.
Their analysis indicates that if we had one million more immigrants, their
Social Security contributions would cover one quarter of the trust fund
shortfall.
In short, for this reason and many others, America needs to
encourage immigration — not make up vicious lies to demonize immigrants!
Immigrants flee their native lands and leave their families,
friends, and neighbors to escape government persecution, gang violence, climate
disasters, and grinding poverty — with hopes of finding freedom, safety, and a
better life in America.
By welcoming them, we not only uphold the promise of America
— we also improve the chances that all Americans will enjoy security in old
age. Welcome, immigrants! We need you!
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You may also be interested in my road-trip novel / social thriller Mississippi Reckoning. Read an excerpt. Read the Progressive Charlestown review HERE.
