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.
