Expanding Social Security

“We need to get our priorities straight. We should be increasing Social Security benefits and asking the richest Americans to contribute their fair share to the program.” – Elizabeth Warren

Download the Expanding Social Security one-pager

WHAT THIS PLAN IS ABOUT

Barely budging wages and rising costs have made it harder and harder to save for retirement. At the same time, Congress hasn’t increased Social Security benefits for nearly 50 years.

But Elizabeth’s got a plan to protect and expand Social Security benefits for all of us.

That’s why this plan:

  • Increases standard Social Security and Social Security Disability Insurance benefits immediately by $200 a month – $2,400 a year – for every current and future beneficiary in America.
  • Changes out-of-date Social Security rules to improve benefits for lower-income families, women, people of color, people with disabilities, and public-sector workers.
  • Values the work of caregivers by creating a new credit for people who take time out of the workforce to care for a family member – and recognizes caregiving for the valuable work it is.
  • Extends Social Security benefits to full-time students until the age of 24 if they’ve got a parent who has a disability or has died.
  • Helps people with disabilities build financial security and get the care they need by rewriting eligibility rules to stop punishing beneficiaries for returning to work and eliminating the 5-month Social Security Disability Insurance benefits waiting period and the 24-month Medicare waiting period.

WHY IT’S NEEDED

Seniors today are already facing a difficult retirement. Without action, future generations are likely to be even worse off.

While we’ve reduced the percentage of seniors living in poverty over the past few decades, 7 million seniors still live in poverty. Nearly 20% of seniors are still in the workforce in their retirement years. And millions of seniors delay necessary home repairs or cut back on prescription pills to save money.

Significant portions of seniors also rely on Social Security as their only source of income:

  • 26% of AAPI beneficiaries
  • 33% of Black beneficiaries
  • 40% of Latinx beneficiaries

Gen-Xers and Millennials are in even greater trouble. For both generations, wages have been virtually stagnant for their entire working lives and they’re trapped in debt.

Adults with disabilities are twice as likely to live in poverty as those without a disability. Monthly Social Security Disability Insurance benefits make up at least 90% of income for nearly half of beneficiaries.

That’s why Elizabeth’s plan increases Social Security benefits by $200 a month across the board.

WHAT WOULD THIS PLAN MEAN FOR ME?

Try our Social Security calculator to see how much your benefits would increase under Elizabeth’s plan.

WANT MORE? READ ELIZABETH’S FULL PLAN.

Learned something exciting? Talk about it with your friends, family, and voters! Be sure to ask them how this plan may help them in their day-to-day lives.