To design policies that ensure justice for all, we need tools for estimating not just a proposal's price tag but its fairness. Part of a set of demonstration analyses that use the Equity Scoring Initiative's dimensions of equity improvement to structure equity assessments, this report shows the potential impact of the Social Security Expansion Act (S. 393, SSEA), a leading Social Security reform proposal introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in February 2023. We assess the SSEA for its projected impact on improving equity in key outcomes including lifetime benefits, lifetime benefits minus contributions, and economic security provision by provision, and overall, across three racial-ethnic groups: Black, Hispanic, and white.
Authors
Richard W. Johnson, Karen E. Smith, Karishma Furtado, Rekha Balu, Damir Cosic
- Pages
- 48
- Published in
- United States of America
Table of Contents
- Does the 2023 Social Security Expansion Act Improve Equity in Key Outcomes 1
- Contents 3
- Foreword Equity Scoring and Equal Protection 4
- Note 6
- Acknowledgments 8
- Executive Summary 9
- Does the 2023 Social Security Expansion Act Improve Equity in Key Outcomes 11
- Why We Focus on Financial Insecurity among Older and Disabled Adults and Evaluate Federal Efforts to Combat It 11
- Policies Targeting Economic Security among Older and Disabled Adults 13
- The Equity Scoring Initiative 15
- The Need to Reform Social Security 15
- The Social Security Expansion Act 17
- Expand the Taxable Wage Base 18
- Tax Investment Income 19
- Modify the Benefit Formula 19
- Increase the Minimum Benefit 21
- Recompute Cost-of-Living Adjustments 23
- How We Analyzed the SSEA 24
- Modeling Approach 24
- Key Outcomes 25
- Population of Interest 26
- Operationalizing Equity and Generating Equity Scores 26
- Projected Impact of the SSEA 29
- Lifetime Social Security Benefits 29
- Lifetime Social Security Contributions 31
- Net Lifetime Social Security Benefits 32
- Economic Security 33
- Summary of Equity Improvement 36
- What Does the SSEA Illustrate about Equity Scoring 37
- Appendix A. Dynamic Simulation of Income Model 4 40
- Notes 42
- References 44
- About the Authors 46
