With the presidential race heating to a boil, America’s looming retirement crisis should take center stage in this election alongside other top issues. But so far, apart from a few mentions of Social Security, elder poverty and lack of retirement security have been cast to the sidelines.
Older Americans are the most likely to vote—Social Security, Medicare, and the looming prospect of old age without retirement income security are their top priorities. An AARP bipartisan survey found 80 percent of voters aged 50 and above say Social Security will be an extremely or very important issue determining their vote.
Anxiety about retirement income makes sense. Nearly half of today’s middle-class older adults will be poor or near-poor in old age, and according to internationally-recognized measures, 23 percent of Americans aged 66 and over—that’s more than 12.4 million seniors—live in relative poverty.
Nearly half of older Americans have no retirement savings and must rely solely on Social Security in old age. About 79 percent of people aged 62 to 70 can’t afford their pre-retirement living standards, forcing millions of older Americans to seek low-paid and physically and mentally demanding work. Most people retire earlier than they want to because of layoffs, physical or mental incapacity, age discrimination, or family caregiving responsibilities.
On day one, the next president can order a Presidential Gray New Deal Commission and urge Congress to pass the bipartisan Retirement Savings for Americans Act (RSAA), pending legislation that provides retirement savings plans to all working Americans.
Working with Congress, a Gray New Deal Commission could help strengthen and expand Social Security by increasing its revenues through targeted taxes and investments; expand Medicare by lowering the eligibility age to 50 or 60 and making it first payer so employers only supplement Medicare for older workers, lowering the costs of hiring them; and direct the U.S. Census Bureau to bring poverty measures in line with international standards (current measures exclude 6.6 million poor Americans aged 65 and older).
Which administration would likely take meaningful action for older Americans? Donald Trump says he is open to cutting Social Security or Medicare and the Republican platform calls for doing nothing for the program. But Social Security needs money now to stave off cutting benefits in 2033—doing nothing is a cut. Trump’s proposal to cut Social Security taxes for higher income seniors is also a cut, because the tax revenue feeds the system.
The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 and the Republican Study Committee propose cutting Social Security by raising the retirement age to 69 or 70, which would make elder poverty worse and force more older people to keep working in precarious jobs. Project 2025 also lays out ways to cut and weaken Medicare and Social Security.
In contrast, a Harris Administration would likely support getting new revenue into Social Security and Medicare, expanding benefits to caregivers, and raising benefits for the lowest income seniors. Vice President Kamala Harris has long favored expanding Social Security. And Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, is a longtime supporter.
“As someone who has spoken publicly about receiving Social Security survivor benefits as a child, Governor Walz understands first-hand the invaluable importance of Social Security,” said Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works.
A Harris-Walz Administration, Altman added, “will fight hard to protect and expand Social Security, as highlighted in the excellent pro-senior policies laid out in the 2024 Democratic Party Platform. They will also fight to expand Medicare and continue to lower drug prices.”
The next president will need to face the retirement crisis head-on, and fast. If they don’t, this cauldron of elder poverty, economic instability, lack of pension and retirement savings, spiraling downward mobility, and the many challenges facing older workers, retirees, and all the people obligated to care for them, is poised to boil over.
This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, a project of The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.