Parent Dave Waskey poses, stressed, over a table of financial documents. The current retirement age is 67-years-old, but recently there have been calls to raise the age to 69-years-old. Photo by Ellie Cooper
By Ellie Cooper
No one is surprised when the U.S. government breaks its promises, and the next victim is the elderly.
The last change to the retirement age was in 1983, pushing the age of receiving full Social Security benefits up from 65-years-old to 67-years-old. However recently, there have been calls to increase the retirement age from 67-years-old to 69-years-old over the course of several years. These cries for change manifested in the form of a Republican proposal.
The House Republican Study Committee’s 2024 budget proposal included harsh cuts and changes to Social Security benefits. This proposal, although not enacted, lays a foundation for similar bills that ultimately only create more challenges for the elderly without fixing the broken system.
Retirees who already receive Social Security checks wouldn’t be affected. Instead, these cuts will have detrimental effects on future recipients. Additionally, this proposal unfairly harms middle-income beneficiaries the hardest as they rely heavily on Social Security benefits. According to the opening statement of a chairman on the Budget Senate Committee, the proposal would cut benefits by 13% every year after the retirement age hits 69-years-old.
Furthermore, a nominal increase in life expectancy doesn’t mean people should work significantly longer. As people age, they are more likely to face health issues, caregiving responsibilities, and other challenges of old age. With a raised retirement age, they will be forced to toil away despite aching joints and worsening mental facilities.
Retirees who still choose to claim early in spite of a raised retirement age will also face steep reductions relative to their full benefit amounts. This will prove to be a problem for many. According to the Social Security Administration, in 2022, nearly a quarter of recipients claimed Social Security benefits early at 62-years-old, and the average claiming age was 65-years-old.
One reason for this early claiming age is job discrimination. According to the think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 4 out of 10 recent retirees report they were forced out of their jobs, and many of them struggle to find other work. This lack of work often leads to financial distress, forcing those people to claim benefits early to support themselves and family members.
As mentioned, proponents of the higher retirement age argue that U.S citizens are living longer, and therefore the age must be raised along with the average life expectancy. And while it is true that average American life expectancy has risen since 1983, life expectancy for the lower half of earners, the ones who will be most unfairly impacted by the change, has hardly increased at all. According to a 2016 study conducted by professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, over the last 15 years, U.S. life expectancy increased by 2.34 and 2.91 years for men and women in the top 5% of income earners, but by just 0.32 and 0.04 years for men and women in the bottom 5% of earners.
Social Security funds are running out. According to the 2022 Social Security Trustees report, starting in 2034, retirees will receive a reduced benefit unless Congress fixes funding issues. However, increasing the retirement age wouldn't solve this systemic problem. It is merely an unsustainable and surface level “fix” that creates a plethora of issues for future generations.
Increasing the retirement age will only cause suffering throughout the country. If our representatives choose to raise the retirement age, they ignore the wellbeing of their posterity.