Statement from Roosevelt Institute President and CEO Elizabeth Wilkins on the 2026 Trustees Report: Strengthen Social Security. Don’t Cut It.

For more than 90 years, Social Security has been one of the clearest examples of our government keeping its promises. Today, roughly 63 million people receive Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) benefits. And the program keeps 23.5 million people, including more than 1 million children, out of poverty. 

They, and the millions more currently paying into the system, shouldn’t have to worry that this essential program won’t be there when they need it.

What the New Date Means 

The annual Trustees Report tracks the date when the OASI Trust Fund, a reserve that helps pay full benefits when Social Security tax revenue falls short, is projected to be exhausted. This year, that date is 2032, a full quarter earlier than last year’s projection. 

That does not mean Social Security is going bankrupt, but it does mean Congress now has less time to act. If leaders allow the Trust Fund reserve to run dry, people could lose more than 20 percent of their benefits.

Failure to act is precisely what brought us to this point. Social Security and the economy shape each other. That’s why this is not the “baby boomer retirement” story people often hear. As my colleague Stephen Nuñez explains, the Trust Fund is under strain because Congress has failed to update the program for the economy we actually have. Too much income now flows to the top, where it escapes Social Security taxation. Too many workers have faced weak wage growth. And the government’s poor response to the Great Recession damaged workforce participation and wages, and, in turn, weakened the reserve.

Since inequality helped weaken the Trust Fund, the answer cannot be to cut benefits for the people who rely on them. That would take money out of the pockets of the people who need it most. It would also hurt local economies. Social Security benefit spending supported more than 12 million jobs in 2023. And the checks keep coming even when the job market worsens, helping local economies get through hard times.

These Are Policy Choices, Not Inevitabilities

Policy choices brought us to where we are, and different policy choices can get us out if leaders have the courage to make them. For millions of people, Social Security is all the income they live on. The choice cannot be to force those people to go without. Instead, we should demand that the wealthy contribute more, recognize more of the work people do—including unpaid care—and strengthen Social Security for the next generation. 

Roosevelt will be in this fight because Social Security is part of what makes a good life possible. People should be able to retire without having their security depend on Wall Street, family wealth, or luck. 

Workers have already been asked to carry too much retirement risk on their own. Wall Street has found plenty of ways to profit from that shift. Roosevelt has warned against pushing 401(k) savers into private markets that are costly and hard to evaluate. Social Security works differently. It pools risk, pays a defined benefit, and gives people income they don’t have to gamble for. Choosing people over profits means choosing Social Security.

Our Path Forward Must Be to Strengthen Social Security 

Social Security set the bar for this basic democratic obligation: Our government has a role in making sure people can live with security. That idea is still right. The program now needs to reflect how people work, care for one another, and navigate an economy shaped by new technology.

Our own polling from May 2026 found that 92 percent of Americans say it is important to expand Social Security benefits, not just preserve the status quo.

So our leaders face a choice. They can use this Trustees Report as an excuse to cut benefits, raise the retirement age, or narrow the program. Or they can chart a better course that strengthens Social Security and lives up to the original Rooseveltian promise.