Does the 2023 Social Security Expansion Act Improve Equity in Key Outcomes?

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