Since 1935, the Social Security Administration has given checks to millions of people across the country. Recent news, on the other hand, says that the system will change completely next year.
This seems to worry some baby boomers.
Newsweek polls show that voters think Democrats are better at managing Social Security than Republicans, even though the issue has not come up much in the presidential race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
According to this study, 50% of Americans are “very concerned” about the future of their Social Security retirement benefits, while 40% are “fairly” or “slightly” concerned. This has been the case for a few months now.
Social Security checks will change completely in 2025
For the past 16 months, Newsweek has been polling Americans about the war in Ukraine, immigration, and abortion. This article is part of that polling. The poll was done by Red field & Wilton Strategies for Newsweek only, from July 2023 to October 2024.
They asked between 1,500 and 2,500 eligible voters at a time about the main issues in the 2024 election. People who get Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) from the Social Security Administration are running out of trust funds.
The SSA’s Office of the Inspector General has said that benefits could be cut by 21% in 2034 if a deal is not made soon.
A think tank called the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) said in September that if there is no solution to the fiscal cliff, a retired couple with a “medium income” who stops working in 2033 could lose $16,500 from their standard retirement income.
A person with a middle-class income would lose about $12,400. For most Americans, Social Security checks make up about 40% of their retirement income.
Stephen Kates, lead financial analyst for Retire Guide.com, told Newsweek that the expected 20 percent cut in payments will make it very hard for many retirees to keep living the way they do now if problems are not fixed.
The most recent poll, which was done in October, backs up the comments that Newsweek has been getting about Social Security since February.
Generation X, the generation that will retire after the baby boomers, is the most worried about the possibility of getting less money from Social Security (56% say they are very worried).
37% of those who answered say that members of Generation Z, which is the youngest group of adults, are the least worried about their future retirement benefits.
Also, boomers and people born between 1928 and 1945 (the “silent generation”) were a little less worried about their future rights (53% of them were very worried).
Once someone starts getting Social Security checks, they can not be lowered. Since most of them are already retired, this should not be a surprise.

Even so, neither Trump nor Harris have made Social Security a top priority, and neither has come up with a detailed plan to deal with the upcoming funding cliff.
Polls from October showed that 44% of people thought Democrats would be better at protecting Social Security, while 34% thought Republicans would be better.
Since February, when only 31% of people trusted Republicans and 41% trusted Democrats, the numbers have gotten a little better.
Kates said that Republicans tend to be less optimistic about entitlements and have talked about privatizing Social Security in the past.
When people are looking for better options, this could make more people turn to the Democratic Party.
Javier Palomarez, founder and CEO of the US Hispanic Business Council, told Newsweek that the Democrats’ strong support for Social Security checks directly addresses the main concerns of people who are retiring or are getting close to retirement, especially baby boomers and Gen X.
People may not trust the GOP as much on this issue because they have been in charge of several plans to raise the retirement age or cut Social Security checks.
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