There has been an ongoing campaign for decades to persuade the American public that Social Security and Medicare are simply “unpayable” and that they are destined, like it or not.
Nonsense, but apparently it works.
Fewer than 15% of baby boomers now say they are “very confident” that Social Security will keep benefits at or above current levels in the future, according to a survey report. new survey.
The numbers are even lower among younger generations, with less than 14% of millennials and less than 11% of Gen Xers strongly confident that the program will keep their benefits. These numbers are overwhelmed by 2, 3, or 4 to 1 people in each cohort who are completely ‘not confident’.
There are similar sentiments regarding Medicare, with more than half of Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) currently “not confident” that Medicare will continue to provide the same benefits as it does today.
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The figure comes in a new report by the Institute for Employee Benefits and Retirement, a respected nonpartisan research organization focused on both private retirement preparedness and social safety nets.
This is another sign that marketing beats entity again and again. In fact, there’s no good reason either Social Security or Medicare should cut benefits. If so, it would be a deliberate policy choice. But the best way to convince people to let it happen is to convince them it’s inevitable. It’s no use resisting.
Somewhat ironically, this figure appears buried in reports of the devastating personal costs borne by unpaid informal caregivers. This cost will skyrocket if the Social Security and Medicare safety nets are cut.
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One in five Americans already provides unpaid care to a family member, friend or neighbor.
And two-thirds of them say it’s negatively impacting their mental and emotional health, and nearly three-fifths say it’s damaging their physical health.
Many donate a lot of time and energy as well as money. One way she measures costs is to look at how they affect the caregivers’ own lives.
Those who provide this type of unpaid, informal care are 60% more likely than the rest of the population to have less than $1,000 in savings and 60% more likely to say debt is a major problem. They are 40% more likely to suffer from non-mortgage debt. More than a quarter have had to borrow money from family and friends themselves to continue their lives while helping vulnerable people without pay.
Also, retirees who provide care are 50% more likely than others to say their retirement lifestyle is worse than expected.
One of the worst aspects of this informal, unpaid caregiving is that it barely stands out in public discourse. Those who talk about cutting the social safety net for the alleged “those who can afford it” are really only planning to pass on the extra costs to middle-class taxpayers.
All of this means that the more attention the Resistance is Football campaign gets, the worse times will come for many.
