Immigration and Social Security
The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) recently released the results of its study on immigration and its potential influence on the Social Security solvency dilemma. Calling “increased immigration a powerful policy tool in the effort to maintain the Social Security program,” BPC authors first recap the dilemma and the financial and demographic mechanics driving the solvency problem, and follow that with a thorough analysis of how the addition of legal immigrants to the U.S. workforce could, with “most of them … working and paying into the Social Security system,” bolster Social Security “by boosting the number of new workers without immediately adding more new beneficiaries.”
Although the study points out the temporary positives associated with immigration, it is firm in its position that this is not to be considered a long-term or permanent solution to the solvency problem. In its conclusion, the study report reiterates the BPC’s views on what needs to be done to address the issue: (1) improving access to workplace retirement savings plans; (2) promoting personal savings for short-term needs and preserving retirement savings for older age; (3) reducing the risk that retirees will outlive their savings; (4) facilitating the use of home equity for retirement consumption; (5) improving Americans’ financial knowledge; and (6) strengthening Social Security’s financial support and modernizing the program.
For the most part, the “fixes” put forth by the BPC are consistent with many other reform proposals in play, one of which is the Association of Mature Americans Citizens’ “Social Security Guarantee” legislative proposal. Like most reform advocates, AMAC consistently calls for a sense of urgency in Social Security modernization, and remains active in Washington in its quest to bring lawmakers’ attention to what is clearly not a self-correcting problem.