The terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, draws attention to two long-standing social insurance programs that pay cash benefits to families when a breadwinner dies. Workers' compensation pays benefits if a worker is killed at work. Social Security pays families whether or not the worker's...

In the debate over Social Security reform, most of the work on individual accounts has focused on how individuals would save and manage those accounts during their working lives. Uncharted Waters goes further and addresses the often neglected questions about how and under what circumstances...

In January 2009, 51.1 million people, or about one in every six U.S. residents, received Social Security benefits. The benefits are financed by dedicated taxes on earnings paid by workers and employers, by income taxes that upper income beneficiaries pay on part of their Social Security...

The 2014 Trustees Report updates projections about the future finances of Social Security's two trust funds. The Disability Insurance (DI) trust fund, which is legally separate from the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) trust fund, will require legislative action soon to ensure that all...

The contributions that workers pay for Social Security have been temporarily reduced under legislation designed to get money quickly into the hands of workers so they could spend it to help the nation out of the Great Recession. This “payroll tax holiday” is scheduled to end on December 31....

Micro-simulation of future benefits shows how recommendations by Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, co-chairs of the deficit commission appointed by President Obama, would lower Social Security benefits for almost all (92 percent) of seniors entitled to benefits in 2070. The cuts would affect all...

This fact sheet explains how the children and grandchildren of today's retirees would bear the brunt of the benefit cuts currently being proposed by some policymakers and commentators. It outlines how raising the retirement age means lowering benefits at any age they are claimed, which many...

This brief is one component of a toolkit of materials designed to educate workers approaching retirement about their options for taking Social Security benefits, and about why - if you can - it pays to wait. The brief is available for download here. The rest of the toolkit - a 3-minute video, a...

The 2013 Trustees Report updates projections about the future finances of Social Security's two trust funds. The Disability Insurance (DI) trust fund, which is legally separate from the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) trust fund, requires legislative action soon to ensure that all...