Congressional Research Service Reports - 329 Matching Results
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- Primer on Disability Benefits: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
- This report provides an overview on federal disability benefits programs including Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), which is an insurance program that provides benefits to individuals who have paid into the system and meet certain minimum work requirements, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which is a means-tested program that does not have work or contribution requirements, but restricts benefits to those who meet certain financial eligibility criteria.
- Social Security Primer
- Report that provides an overview of Social Security financing and benefits under current law.
- The Government's Long-Term Fiscal Shortfall: How Much Is Attributable to Social Security?
- This report discusses social security in the context of the federal budget. One rationale given for Social Security reform is the large long-term fiscal shortfall that Social Security is projected to face.
- Social Security: What Would Happen If the Trust Funds Ran Out?
- This report explains what the Social Security trust funds are and how they work. It describes the historical operations of the trust funds and the Social Security trustees' projections of future operations. It explains what could happen if Congress allowed the trust funds to run out. It also analyzes two scenarios that assume Congress waits until the moment of insolvency to act, showing the magnitude of benefit cuts or tax increases needed and how such changes would affect beneficiaries.
- Summary of Major Changes in the Social Security Cash Benefits Program: 1935-1996
- No Description Available.
- Social Security: The Trust Fund
- This report covers how the Social Security program is financed and how the Social Security trust fund works.
- Social Security: What Would Happen If the Trust Funds Ran Out?
- This report explains what the Social Security trust funds are and how they work. It describes the historical operations of the trust funds and the Social Security trustees' projections of future operations. It explains what could happen if Congress allowed the trust funds to run out. It also analyzes two scenarios that assume Congress waits until the moment of insolvency to act, showing the magnitude of benefit cuts or tax increases needed and how such changes would affect beneficiaries.
- Social Security: Brief Facts and Statistics
- This document provides facts and statistics about Social Security that are frequently requested by Members of Congress and their staffs. Its purpose is to provide quick answers to basic questions about the program. It should not be treated as a guide to Social Security. The reader is advised to consult other publications for explanations of how eligibility and benefits are determined and how the program is financed. Among them are two pamphlets published by the Social Security Administration (SSA) entitled Basic Facts About Social Security and Understanding Social Security which are contained in the Congressional Research Service (CRS) Info Pack IP 153S, Social Security: An Introduction. SSA also issues numerous other pamphlets on various aspects of the program as well as a lengthy Handbook on Social Security. For other possible sources that provide data and basic descriptive material, see the references listed at the end of this document.
- Social Security: The Relationship of Taxes and Benefits for Past, Present, and Future Retirees
- In recent years considerable public attention has focused on Social Security's treatment of younger versus older workers. Analysts sometimes have addressed this issue by examining the value Social Security provides each generation of workers in relation to the Social Security taxes they pay. These are referred to as "moneys worth" analyses.
- Social Security: Summary of Major Changes in the Cash Benefits Program
- Title II of the original Social Security Act of 1935 established a national plan designed to provide economic security for the nation's workers. The system of Old-Age Insurance it created provided benefits to individuals who were age 65 or older and who had "earned" retirement benefits through work in jobs covered by the system.
- Social Security Reform
- Although the Social Security system is now running surpluses of income over outgo, its board of trustees projects that its trust funds would be depleted in 2038 and only 73% of its benefits would be payable then with incoming receipts. The trustees project that on average the system's cost would be 14% higher than its income over the next 75 years; by 2075 it would be 45% higher. The primary reason is demographic: the post-World War II baby boomers will begin retiring in less than a decade and life expectancy is rising. By 2025 the number of people age 65 and older is predicted to grow by 73%. In contrast, the number of workers supporting the system would grow by 13%.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security: Taxation of Benefits
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security: Raising the Retirement Age Background and Issues
- No Description Available.
- Social Security: Proposed Changes to the Earnings Test
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security: Taxation of Benefits
- No Description Available.
- Social Security: Taxation of Benefits
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform: Economic Issues
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- President Bush has highlighted Social Security reform as a top priority during his second term. The President has not presented a detailed plan for reform. Rather, he has put forth guidelines for Congress to consider in the development of legislation to create personal accounts within a program in need of “wise and effective reform.” The President has acknowledged that other changes would be needed to address the system’s projected long-range funding shortfall. In recent years, reform ideas have ranged from relatively minor changes to the current pay-as-you-go social insurance system to a redesigned program based on personal savings and investments modeled after IRAs and 401(k)s.
- Social Security Reform: Economic Issues
- The President has indicated that Social Security reform will be a major issue in the 109th Congress. While Social Security originated as a Depression-era program aimed at alleviating the economic circumstances of the elderly, social insurance also corrects market failures in the annuity market (adverse selection), prevents free-riders (requires workers to provide for their retirement), spreads risk, and may correct for failure to optimize by shortsighted individuals.
- Social Security: Summary of Program Solvency and Projections
- On March 23, 2005, the Social Security Board of Trustees released its annual report to Congress on the status of the Social Security trust funds. The Social Security trust funds, under the latest forecast, continue to face long-range financing problems.
- Social Security: Proposed Changes to the Earnings Test
- No Description Available.
- Social Security: Proposed Changes to the Earnings Test
- No Description Available.
- Social Security: Proposed Changes to the Earnings Test
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Social Security: Taxation of Benefits
- No Description Available.
- Social Security: Taxation of Benefits
- No Description Available.
- Social Security: Taxation of Benefits
- No Description Available.
- Social Security: The Trust Fund
- The Social Security program is financed primarily through taxes, which are deposited in the U.S. Treasury and credited to the Social Security trust fund. Any revenues credited to the trust fund in excess of the costs (benefit payments and administrative costs) are invested in special U.S. obligations (debt instruments of the U.S. government).
- Social Security: The Public Servant Retirement Protection Act (H.R. 4391/S. 2455)
- No Description Available.
- Social Security: What Would Happen If the Trust Funds Ran Out?
- This report looks at ways to overhaul the Social Security system due to a projected lack of system funds, which are estimated to become exhausted in 2041.
- Social Security: The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)
- This report discusses the windfall elimination provision (WEP), which reduces the Social Security benefits of workers who also have pension benefits from employment not covered by Social Security. Its purpose is to remove an advantage these workers would otherwise receive because of Social Security’s benefit formula that favors workers with smaller amounts of Social Security-covered career earnings. Opponents contend that the provision is basically imprecise and often unfair.
- Social Security: The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)
- This report discusses the windfall elimination provision (WEP) reduces the Social Security benefits of workers who also have pension benefits from employment not covered by Social Security. Its purpose is to remove an advantage or “windfall” these workers would otherwise receive as a result of the interaction between the Social Security benefit formula and the workers’ relatively small portion of their careers in Social Security-covered employment.