Overview

• During a Republican primary presidential debate, candidates were divided over the question of raising the retirement age as part of Social Security reform.
• Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley advocated for an increased retirement age, particularly for younger generations.
• Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Senator Tim Scott opposed increasing the retirement age. DeSantis advocated for controlling inflation and preventing Congress from borrowing from the Social Security fund, while Scott emphasized the importance of growing the economy.
• Candidate Nikki Haley also proposed limiting benefits to wealthy individuals and adjusting increases based on inflation rather than cost-of-living adjustments.
• While the candidates disagreed on raising the retirement age, all of them opposed benefit cuts and underlined the importance of economic growth and reduced spending as part of the solution to Social Security's looming funding crisis.