We’ve Reformed Social Security Before—and We Can Do It Again.

The economic trends that should guide Social Security reform

The Social Security trust fund is projected to dwindle by the early 2030s, policymakers have an urgent task at hand: design and pass reform that protects and strengthens this fundamental part of our safety net.

In a new analysis, economist Kathryn Anne Edwards examines the program’s 1983 reforms to draw a key lesson for policymakers today: Rather than focusing on financial solvency alone, they need to take the health of the entire economy into account.

“The threat to Social Security’s outlook in the future is the same cause of Social Security’s woes today: economic mismanagement,” Edwards writes. “No matter the issue that could arise to derail mortality, fertility, and wage expectations, the answer to each is responsive, responsible economic policy.”

Read the brief: 1983 v. 2032: The Economics of the Last and Next Social Security Reform

And watch our webinar about Social Security’s economic context with Edwards, Kate Bahn, Bradley Hardy, and Betsey Stevenson.

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  • Read the first-of-its-kind essay collection, edited by Roosevelt’s Todd N. Tucker: Building Up in 2029: How to Make Green Statecraft Durable
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  • Read Pickard’s recent Roosevelt report, coauthored by Shahrzad Shams and Bilal Baydoun, for more: The Political Economy of the US Media System: Excavating the Roots of the Present Crisis

What we’re talking about