According to the Social Security Administration, approximately 56 million people depend on Social Security (OASI) for their retirement. For about half of older adults, it provides at least 50% of their income, and for one in four older adults, it provides at least 90% of their income. In addition, it offers social insurance protection to workers who become disabled and to families whose breadwinner dies.

In July, the Social Security Board of Trustees reported that Social Security benefits will be depleted by 2035. Because Social Security has been a cornerstone of economic security for almost 90 years, its financial challenges are disconcerting. If the trust funds are depleted, benefits would be reduced by 20%.

Social Security helps reduce the economic disparity between older white adults and older adults of color. Hispanics and Blacks have lower earnings and less opportunity to save than whites. Their poverty rate is 2.5 times as high as for white seniors.

Social Security is especially important for women because they tend to earn less than men, take more time out of the paid workforce, live longer, accumulate less savings, and receive smaller pensions. Women represent more than half of Social Security beneficiaries in their 60s and seven in 10 beneficiaries in their 90s. In addition, women make up 96% of Social Security survivor beneficiaries.

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