US Workers Earning $60,070 Face $3,063 in Higher Taxes to Keep Social Security Solvent

Despite their significant policy differences, when it comes to Social Security both leading presidential candidates see eye to eye. Trump and Biden have both vowed not to cut Social Security. While these pledges may resonate with politically powerful voters, a "do-nothing" approach to Social Security that avoids necessary structural reforms and instead promises to preserve benefits at current levels, comes at a high cost for younger generations. If the Social Security program continues to operate as it currently does, a median US worker earning around $60,000 annually could soon face an additional burden of more than $3,000 in payroll taxes, bringing their total payroll tax burden to more than $10,000 a year. Figure 1 shows how much taxes would increase for a median US worker should Congress increase the payroll tax rate from 12.4 percent to 17.5 percent, which is necessary to maintain Social Security's current benefit structure through 2097. With this higher payroll tax rate, the yearly payroll tax burden for median earners would rise by more than 40 percent, increasing from $7,449 to $10,512.