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People Like Social Security as Is, Says Washington Poll

By: Author Unknown
Seniorjournal.com, August 20, 2002

Washington residents preferred the guaranteed income of the current Social Security system over proposals to allow workers to invest part of their Social Security taxes in individual accounts but want the program to be supplemented by additional retirement plans and savings for people to live comfortably in retirement, according to a poll paid for by the Economic Opportunity Institute (EOI).

 On first glance, many respondents favored proposals to privatize Social Security, but their opinion shifted when they heard the consequences, said Marilyn Watkins, Ph.D., Economic Security Policy Director at EOI. Women especially recognized the importance of keeping Social Security as a stable and secure base of income.

The youngest respondents, aged 18 - 24, were evenly split between keeping Social Security as it is and favoring restructuring to include private accounts (47% favor changes, 48% oppose); however, all other age groups favored keeping the current system of guaranteed benefits.

Suggestions that Social Security be restructured to include private accounts have encountered major obstacles. The President’s Commission on Social Security, given the charge to propose a plan for private accounts, concluded that cuts in benefits and new tax money would be necessary and failed to reach consensus on any alternative to the current system. The Social Security Trustees Report, issued in late March, showed that contrary to common perception the current system is fiscally sound.

The poll brings out at the grassroots level what advocates of privatizing Social Security choose to ignore, Dr. Watkins emphasized. People want guaranteed benefits for retirement, for widows and children of deceased workers, and for disabled workers. They don’t want to pay a trillion dollars to transition to private accounts with uncertain returns.

Poll respondents also expressed a great deal of concern about retirement savings other than Social Security. Fully 91% agreed that it is important for people to have an additional retirement plan to have economic security in their old age.

⌠We’re hearing two clear messages: keep the guarantees of Social Security and make it easier for people to save for retirement, Dr. Watkins continued. ⌠Unfortunately, even with all the talk about 401(k)s and needing to protect workers’ investments, half of all workers still don’t have any retirement plan at their work place.

In the last legislative session, State Representative Jim McIntire and 17 cosponsors introduced a bill to create a new system of Washington Voluntary Accounts (WVA) that would allow all workers to participate in retirement savings. WVA would be a voluntary retirement savings program administered by the state’s Department of Retirement Services. Under the proposal, all contributions would be voluntary, and employers could contribute if they chose to. The legislature is expected to take up the legislation in its next session.

 WVA would meet the needs of workers and small business owners who find setting up a plan too costly and too time-consuming, Dr. Watkins noted. Social Security is a tremendous success, and the American people know it. Instead of talking about dismantling a program that is working well, we need to start focusing on new proposals like WVA that, in combination with Social Security, will truly increase economic security in retirement for all Americans.

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