Raising the retirement age being reconsidered. (Photo: Yakima Herald)
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget asks lawmakers to “promote stronger economic growth and productive aging” by eliminating “work and savings disincentives in the current program.” This proposal conceals the true intention of simply raising the current retirement age.
Monique Morrissey of the Economic Policy Institute provides a concise translation of the term “Productive Aging” equating it to “Raise the Retirement Age.”
It’s not surprising that the CRFB, heavily funded by late private equity billionaire Pete Peterson, would want to keep this on the down low to contain the public’s adverse reaction.
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Raising the retirement age being reconsidered. (Photo: Kiplinger)
Raising the retirement age is best characterized as a zombie reform strategy. Despite being repeatedly debunked as a benefit cut that disproportionately affects low-income and Black workers, it still continues to resurface.
In a November article for the Hill, Joseph Chamie, a former UN demographer, proposed raising the retirement age to 70 and eliminating the early retirement option, which allows workers to begin claiming Social Security benefits at age 62, with a reduction in lifetime benefits for each year before their average retirement age.
Chamie asserted that his proposal “could save Social Security for us all” without considering the demographics. He made that claim without mentioning other suggestions to shore up the program’s finances, particularly raising or eliminating the payroll tax cap, which effectively gives the rich a free pass on supporting the program.
The CRFB expresses concern that “a smaller share of older Americans work today than half a century [ago], even as life expectancy has risen dramatically and the nature of employment and technology has made it easier to work at older ages.”
The proposal to raise the retirement age is based on the false assumption that life expectancy is increasing at an inexorable rate for all Americans. The reasoning is that the drafters of Social Security in 1935 did not expect people to live this long, so they should have accounted for the cost increases that would result.
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