Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Social Security Reform: How To Prevent The Program's Bankruptcy, Allison C. Edwards

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Social Security, the United States’ largest federal entitlement program, provides old-age and disability protection to over 64 million Americans. However, rigorous evaluations indicate that the program will reach insolvency by 2035. This means that there are projected cash-flow shortfalls through which tax revenue alone will soon be insufficient in covering the annual program cost. Researchers suggest that the exhaustion of the Social Security trust funds is explained by (a) demographic shifts that depress the worker-to-beneficiary ratio and (b) financing imbalances caused by program deficits. My research addresses methods for ensuring the solvency of the Social Security program by exploring the …