Overview
- Trustees project the program’s trust funds could be depleted as soon as 2033, triggering automatic benefit cuts of roughly one-fifth without congressional action.
- The Cato/YouGov survey finds 83% view Social Security favorably, yet about one-third doubt it will exist for them and roughly seven in ten expect future benefit reductions.
- Younger adults are far more open to cutting benefits to avoid higher taxes: 53% of those under 30 prefer trimming current benefits rather than raising taxes, while 89% of seniors favor higher taxes on younger workers to protect retirees’ checks, and Gen Z is eight times more likely than seniors to back reductions.
- Public understanding is thin, with about half unaware Social Security is pay‑as‑you‑go, nearly two-thirds mistaking it for a mandatory savings plan, 43% not knowing what a payroll tax is, and only 17% identifying the 12.4% rate split between workers and employers.
- Seventy-one percent support creating a nonpartisan commission to address long-term funding, as lawmakers float options including the Fair Share Act targeting high earners and a bipartisan Cassidy–Kaine plan for a new investment fund.