Americans Now Value Social Security More Than Ever According to Poll
August 20th, 2009 by Margolis
The financial insecurity of the economic downturn has moved more Americans to value the financial security offered by Social Security, according to a poll recently released by the National Academy of Social Insurance. While President Bush could not get much traction even in good economic times for his efforts to privatize Social Security, it looks like he would get even less today.
According to results of the poll, conducted by Benenson Strategy Group, 88 percent of Americans say that Social Security is more important then ever in light of the current economy. At the same time, they’re worried about the program. Ninety percent are concerned about its ability to pay benefits to future generations and 44 percent of non-retirees are concerned about it being there for them.
In what appears to be a new coming to terms with reality, the poll reports that three quarters of respondents agreed that workers should contribute more to the program if necessary to preserve it. We can hope that this signals a change from the promises of many politicians that American citizens could get something for nothing which have contributed to our nation’s personal and shared budget deficits.