Millions Could See Social Security Benefits Reduced if Congress Doesn't Take Action

Millions of Americans could see their Social Security benefits reduced by $500 a month or more by 2032, according to a new report.

The report was released Wednesday by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization.

The committee warns that if Congress does not take action regarding Social Security’s inevitable funding shortfall, Americans’ monthly payments would be reduced by hundreds of dollars within the next several years.

Social Security beneficiaries would face an automatic 24% reduction in monthly payments, the report said, averaging $500 nationwide.

But average monthly benefit cuts would even surpass $500 in 29 states, the report projected.

The report said that “no state would be spared” from the cuts.

The report found that Social Security recipients in each state would see an average monthly cut of:

Alabama - $486
Alaska - $483
Arizona - $511
Arkansas - $469
California - $490
Colorado - $515
Connecticut - $556
Delaware - $549
Florida - $496
Georgia - $487
Hawaii - $501
Idaho - $494
Illinois - $507
Indiana - $515
Iowa - $504
Kansas - $520
Kentucky - $472
Louisiana - $460
Maine - $478
Maryland - $541
Massachusetts - $527
Michigan - $523
Minnesota - $530
Mississippi - $459
Missouri - $490
Montana - $478
Nebraska - $509
Nevada - $482
New Hampshire - $553
New Jersey - $554
New Mexico - $472
New York - $511
North Carolina - $501
North Dakota - $488
Ohio - $487
Oklahoma - $486
Oregon - $504
Pennsylvania - $519
Rhode Island - $519
South Carolina - $505
South Dakota - $486
Tennessee - $495
Texas - $489
Utah - $523
Vermont - $516
Virginia - $522
Washington - $531
West Virginia - $480
Wisconsin - $513
Wyoming - $512

“With less than seven years until Social Security is projected to be insolvent, policymakers need to enact changes to the program as quickly as possible to protect against these scenarios,” the report warned.

Social Security continues to face financial pressure from an aging population, with experts saying there is a shrinking ratio of workers paying into the system compared with the number of retirees drawing benefits.