2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Study: Youth support Bush plan
Poll shows Americans between ages 18 and 29 favor privatizing a portion of Social Security payroll taxes
Chas McCarthy
Issue date: 4/6/05 Section: News
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In a February poll, the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press reported that 66 percent of Americans between ages 18 and 29 support privatizing a portion of Social Security taxes, up from 64 percent in December.
As Social Security continues to be a focus on Capitol Hill, USC students are developing their own opinions on the issue.
"It seems like politicians are stalling on the issue because some age groups are worried that their benefits will be cut. And it doesn't make sense because the creation of private accounts doesn't affect older people who receive or will soon be receiving Social Security benefits" said James Danko, a third-year civil engineering student.
Danko said his frustration stems from a fear that he won't be repaid 40 years from now. The Social Security Administration estimates that the federal government can afford to pay full benefits until 2018, at which point tax revenues will not be enough to support those receiving aid. And the situation will only get worse afterward, experts say.
"In a few decades, under current law, there will be 74 cents in taxes coming into the Trust Fund from which $1 in projected benefits must be paid out. Hence, there is a potential serious problem with the system that should be addressed now - not two decades from now," said B.F. Kiker, a chairman of the economics department in USC's Moore School of Business.
Bush's solution is to invest a portion of each citizen's payroll taxes - which are withheld from paychecks to fund Social Security - in a combination of conservative bond and stock funds, which would accumulate over time in a sort of personal bank account.
"Since the (accounts) are individually owned, they provide an opportunity for a large segment of the population to accumulate assets that would otherwise not be available," Kiker said.
Lawmakers say it's a good idea - one that Democrats and Republicans have researched in previous years, including S.C. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who called private accounts "a vital part of the solution mix for Social Security reform" in a March news release.