Putting Senior
Citizens Back to Work Popular Way to Help Social Security, Medicare
Even senior
citizens like this idea and the idea for increasing eligibility age says
Harris Poll
March 9, 2011 –
Persuading you (senior citizens) to go back to work, or continue to
work, is a popular idea with most Americans for making Medicare and
Social Security more financially viable, according to a new Harris Poll.
But, guess which age group likes this idea the most – older people. The
public and the seniors also likes the idea of raising the age for
joining these programs.
There are
sizable differences between the preferences of older and younger
generations. Older people, particularly those who are already senior
citizens (65 or older), but also including Baby Boomers, are much more
supportive of both encouraging older people to work and increasing the
ages of eligibility. Echo Boomers and Gen Xers (all under 46) are less
supportive of these options.
Social Security
isn't responsible for federal deficit - just the opposite. Until last
year it took in more than it paid out. It lent
the surpluses to the government
By Robert Reich,
former Secretary of Labor
Feb.
26, 2011 -
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican presidential hopeful,
says in order to "save" Social Security the retirement age should be
raised. The media are congratulating him for his putative "courage."
Deficit hawks are proclaiming Social Security one of the big
entitlements that has to be cut in order to reduce the budget deficit.
Read more...
There is
something close to a consensus among economists and political leaders
who are willing to discuss the subject that, as large numbers of Baby
Boomers become 65 or older, the government will have to modify the
Medicare and Social Security programs to make them affordable. Present
trends they say are "unsustainable".
All the possible
solutions to this problem that have been discussed are unpalatable to
many people, but some are more unpopular than others.
A new Harris
Poll was designed to measure which policies are more or less unpopular,
and what the public would prefer if one or more of these policies had to
be implemented.
The results show
that raising the eligibility age for Social Security and Medicare and
encouraging more people to work over the age of 65 are the least
unpopular policies.
Raising taxes to
pay for the increased costs of these services is more unpopular.
Reducing Medicare and Social Security benefits are the most unpopular
options.
These are some
of the results of The Harris Poll of 3,171 adults surveyed online
between February 14 and 21, 2011 by
Harris Interactive.
The main
findings of the poll are:
● When given
five choices and asked what they think should happen over the next five
years, the policies chosen by the most people are encouraging more
people over 65 to work (40%) and increasing the age of eligibility for
Social Security and Medicare (37%);
● Far fewer
believe that we should increase taxes (27%) to pay for these benefits,
while hardly anyone thinks we should reduce either Medicare (11%) or
Social Security benefits (11%); and,
● When asked
which two of the five policy options people would choose if they had to
pick two, the numbers increase but the rank order of responses is the
same. Encouraging more older people to work (55%) tops the list followed
by increasing the age of eligibility (51%).
● Increasing
taxes (37%) is in the middle of the list with only 10% preferring to
reduce either Social Security or Medicare benefits.
Differences
by party
There are some
substantial differences between the attitudes of people who support
different parties. While large numbers of Republicans, Democrats and
Independents choose the two least unpopular options – working longer and
raising the age of eligibility – there is (no surprise here) a big
difference in their support for increasing taxes. When asked to pick two
choices fully 50% of Democrats, but only 21% of Republicans and 38% of
Independents choose to raise taxes.
So What?
Even if many
informed people think that present cost trends are unsustainable it is
far from clear what the government will do to address this issue or
when. Medicare and Social Security are notoriously tough issues to
tackle -- the proverbial third rail of politics. But, as and when the
issue is addressed, it seems likely that the two least unpopular
options, and possibly some tax increases, will be on the table for
discussion.
TABLE 1
WHAT SHOULD
WE DO TO SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE TO CONTROL BUDGET DEFICIT?
"Because of
the increase in life expectancy, there will be many more old
people alive in ten and twenty years time than ever before. As
the number of people over 65 increases substantially, the cost
of Social Security and Medicare is likely to increase a lot if
we do not change these programs. Which of the following do you
think we should do in the next five years to control the budget
deficit?"
Base: All
Adults
Total
Generation
Party I.D.
Echo
Boomers
(18-33)
Gen. X
(34-45)
Baby
Boomers
(46-64)
Matures
(65+)
Rep.
Dem.
Ind.
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
Encourage many more people over 65 to work
40
39
35
37
54
46
38
42
Increase the age at which one is eligible for Social Security
and Medicare
37
39
24
31
52
41
35
39
Increase taxes
27
27
20
28
29
14
39
27
Reduce Medicare benefits
11
16
14
8
4
15
7
10
Reduce Social Security benefits
11
17
9
7
4
16
6
13
None of the above
33
29
43
38
28
32
28
36
Note: Multiple responses allowed.
TABLE 2
WHAT SHOULD
WE DO TO SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE TO CONTROL BUDGET DEFICIT?
- TREND
"Because of
the increase in life expectancy, there will be many more old
people alive in ten and twenty years time than ever before. As
the number of people over 65 increases substantially, the cost
of Social Security and Medicare is likely to increase a lot if
we do not change these programs. Which of the following do you
think we should do in the next five years to control the budget
deficit?"
Base: All Adults
Total Jan 2010
Total
Feb 2011
Change 2010-2011
%
%
%
Encourage many more people over 65 to work
47
40
-7
Increase the age at which one is eligible for Social Security
and Medicare
30
37
+7
Increase taxes
21
27
+6
Reduce Medicare benefits
9
11
+2
Reduce Social Security benefits
9
11
+2
None of the above
35
33
-2
Note: Multiple responses allowed.
TABLE 3
WHAT WE
SHOULD DO IF HAD TO PICK TWO THINGS
"Most
economists think that it is inevitable that we will have to do
one or more of these things, whether we like it or not. If you
had to pick two that we should do, which two would you pick?"
Base: All
Adults
Total
Generation
Party I.D.
Echo
Boomers
(18-33)
Gen. X
(34-45)
Baby
Boomers
(46-64)
Matures
(65+)
Rep.
Dem.
Ind.
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
Encourage many more people over 65 to work
55
45
57
60
66
59
53
58
Increase the age at which one is eligible for Social Security
and Medicare
51
47
41
48
73
60
49
52
Increase taxes
37
33
33
43
36
21
50
38
Reduce Social Security benefits
10
17
13
7
3
15
6
10
Reduce Medicare benefits
10
14
12
10
3
15
9
8
None of the above
14
16
20
13
7
12
11
15
Note: Multiple responses allowed.
TABLE 4
WHAT WE
SHOULD DO IF HAD TO PICK TWO THINGS - TREND
"Most
economists think that it is inevitable that we will have to do
one or more of these things, whether we like it or not. If you
had to pick two that we should do, which two would you pick?"
Base: All
Adults
Total Jan 2010
Total Feb 2011
Change 2010-2011
%
%
%
Encourage many more people over 65 to work
61
55
-6
Increase the age at which one is eligible for Social Security
and Medicare
46
51
+5
Increase taxes
31
37
+6
Reduce Social Security benefits
10
10
-
Reduce Medicare benefits
12
10
-2
None of the above
17
14
-3
Methodology
This Harris Poll
was conducted online within the United States between February 14 to 21,
2011 among 3,171 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex,
race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted
where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in
the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for
respondents' propensity to be online.
All sample surveys
and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to
multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify
or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated
with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response
options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris
Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading.
All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with
different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100%
response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls
come close to this ideal.
Respondents for
this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to
participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted
to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample
is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive
panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
These statements
conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on
Public Polls.
By Humphrey Taylor,
Chairman, The Harris Poll
About Harris
Interactive
Harris
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