Retirement Pension Reforms (Old Age Security, Canada Pension Plan)	La réforme des pensions de retraite (Sécurité de la vieillesse, Régime de pensions du Canada)
- Jump directly to links to U.S. Social Security Reform and the Chilean Pension Model (lower down on this page) Updated August 14, 2010	La réforme de la sécurité sociale aux É.-U. - Le modèle des pensions au Chili

NOTE: this page covers pension reforms only.
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For program information concerning Old Age Security and the Canada Pension Plan,
go directly to the OAS/CPP page on the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada website.

Public consultation on ensuring the ongoing
strength of Canada's retirement income system
March 24 - May 14, 2010

Ensuring the Ongoing Strength
of Canada’s Retirement Income System*
- provides background information on Canada's retirement income system;
- provides an overview of research on retirement income adequacy;
- describes a variety of proposals in the public domain relating to Canada's retirement income system; and
- solicits views of Canadians on Canada's retirement income system and how to ensure its ongoing strength.

* NOTE: Recommended reading - includes over a dozen links to related and contextual information in areas such as:
- Canada's Government Supported Retirement Income System
- Research on Retirement Income Adequacy
- Considerations for Evaluating Retirement Income System Issues
- Range of Proposals in the Public Domain
- Summary of Questions

This public consultation took place from March 24 to May 14, 2010.

Related link:

News Release
March 24, 2010
The federal government today announced the launch of online consultations and a series of cross-country roundtable discussions, speaking engagements and town hall meetings to gather input from Canadians on ensuring the ongoing strength of Canada’s retirement income system. The consultations will inform discussions at the next meeting of federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Finance in May, where the retirement income system will be a key agenda item.
(...)
Public town hall meetings will be held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Quebec City, and Richmond, British Columbia. Roundtable discussions with invited key stakeholders, experts and representatives from provincial and territorial governments will take place in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and London, Ontario.

Source:
Department of Finance Canada

Pension reform issue poses threat
Concrete plan needed to avoid hard lobbying: reform advocates
By Norma Greenaway
January 11, 2010
Federal and provincial governments will pay a political price if they fail to turn a vague commitment made in December to pursue pension reform into a concrete plan to bolster Canadians' retirement savings, reform advocates are warning. The Canadian Labour Congress and the leading advocacy group for seniors, known as CARP, vow no-holds-barred campaigns to persuade the Harper government to commit to pension reform in its March throne speech and to keep provincial governments on the case.
Source:
The Ottawa Citizen

Related links:

Next budget must stress good jobs
- Georgetti says unemployment, low wages hurting younger workers
January 8, 2010
OTTAWA – When the federal government introduces a new budget in March, it must make the creation of good jobs a priority, says Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress.
Source:
Canadian Labour Congress
The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement, represents 3.2 million Canadian workers. The CLC brings together Canada’s national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 130 district labour councils.

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No Excuses - CARP Poll gives specific Advice
December 17, 2009
TORONTO - Over 1,700 CARP members responding overnight to CARP’s Pension Reform Poll want real action and give specific advice as well as their reaction to recent federal proposals.

CARP
CARP is committed to enhancing the quality of life for all Canadians as we age by advocating for social change that will bring financial security, equitable and timely access to health care and freedom from discrimination.
CARP was originally known as the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, and is now called Canada's Association for the Fifty-Plus. (According to this Wikipedia article)

Minister of Finance Modernizes Federal Pension Framework
October 27, 2009
News Release
The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today released an important reform plan for the federal private pension legislative and regulatory framework. (...) Today’s announcement comes out of extensive consultations with Canadians, beginning with the January release of a discussion paper, Strengthening the Legislative and Regulatory Framework for Private Pension Plans Subject to the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985, and including online consultations. (...)
The package includes measures to:
* Enhance protections for plan members.
* Reduce funding volatility for defined benefit plans.
* Make it easier for participants to negotiate changes to their pension arrangements.
* Improve the framework for defined contribution plans and for negotiated contribution plans.
* Modernize the rules for investments made by pension funds.

Backgrounder - detailed information on each of the five measures

Source:
Finance Canada

Retirement Lost (seven-part series - October 16-24, 2009)
Canada's retirement dreams are under siege, weakened by underfunding and hobbled by the global recession.
It's a national crisis with no easy answers.

* Part one: The crisis
--- Retirement dreams under siege
By Jacquie McNish
October 16, 2009
- incl. links to: * Article * Video * Photos * Pension scenarios * Comments (198)
What you need to know:
--- 84% of public service workers have pensions.
--- 78% of these plans are gold plated defined benefit pensions
--- 25% of private sector workers have a pension plan
--- 16% of these plans are gold plated defined benefit pensions
--- 11 million workers, or 60 per cent, of Canada’s workers have no pension at all
--- 8 million or 45 per cent, have no pensions or registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs)

* Part Two: Manufacturing's wreckage
--- Bankrupt companies, pension promises destroyed
By Greg Keenan
October 18, 2009
- incl. links to : * Article * Video * Photos * The history of pensions (recommended by Gilles!) * Comments
What you need to know:
--- 17.6 million: Number of people in the Canadian work force.
--- 11 million: Number of Canadian workers without pension plans.
--- 4 million: Number of those workers with registered retirement savings plans.
--- 10,000: Number of pension plans in Canada.
---- 4.5 million: Workers with pension plans who have defined benefit plans that guarantee the pension income of retirees until they die.
--- 55 per cent: Amount of those plans held by public sector employees.
--- $25,000: Average pension per year.

* Part three: Death of the traditional plan
--- Hybrid pension plans: a hard sell
By Janet McFarland
October 19, 2009
- incl. links to : * Article * Video * Photos * The history of pensions * Comments (36)
As companies weigh alternatives for the future, a crucial choice comes down to a pair of innocuously simple-looking bits of shorthand: Will the future be DB (Defined Benefit) or DC (Defined Contribution)? Traditional pension plans are DB, defined benefit. A retiree covered by the plan is guaranteed a given level of income. If the plan falls short, the employer is on the hook. The new model, increasingly favoured by employers, is DC, defined contribution. In this approach, the employer’s responsibility is limited to making a certain (“defined”) contribution to the employees’ pension plan. Contributions made by both the employer and employee go into an individual account for the employee, who makes his or her own investment choices. If the plan falls short, the employee is on the hook.

* Part four: Conflicts of interest
--- Financial planning: Whom should you trust?
By Rob Carrick
October 20, 2009
- incl. links to : * Article * Video * Photos * The history of pensions * Comments (78)
As pensions become unreliable, more Canadians are being forced to plan for retirement themselves. But whom do you turn to for help? The experience of one couple who relied on a financial adviser is a cautionary tale.

* Part five: Underfunded dreams
--- No pension safety net for self-employed
By Andrew Willis
October 21, 2009
- incl. links to : * Article * Video * Photos * The history of pensions * Comments (59)
Meet the next generation of retirees: middle-class workers without pensions who are left to their own devices and facing an uncertain financial future. As formal pension plans become increasingly less common, many Canadians face a savings burden that many are unwilling – or unable – to shoulder.

* Part six: Steps to financial freedom
--- Freedom 55? Couple couldn’t wait that long for retirement
By John Heinzl
October 22, 2009
- incl. links to : * Article * Video * Photos * The history of pensions * Comments (84)
In a society that encourages consumers to borrow and spend, in which the pressure to upgrade homes, cars and gadgets never stops, living within one’s means and staying out of debt is a challenge. But for people who make a middle-class salary, the “boring” approach may be the surest route to building wealth and achieving financial security, say those who have done it.

* Part seven: Reforming a broken system
--- Canada's gathering pension storm
By Konrad Yakabuski
October 23, 2009
- incl. links to : * Article * Video * Photos * The history of pensions * Comments (36)
Italy may be one of the worst off, but all developed countries, along with China, will experience unprecedented economic and social pressure in coming decades as their populations grey. Few, if any, have prepared for the demographic tsunami that will hit them as the baby boom generation heads into its golden years. By comparison, Canadians have some reason to feel fiscally smug, with a public pension system considered one of the world’s most financially sustainable. There’s only one catch: That system pays among the least generous government-sponsored benefits in the developed world.

Source:
The Globe and Mail

From Statistics Canada:

Pension savings of Canadians
in 1993 and in 2003
- incl. total accumulated assets of Canadians (in current and constant 2003 dollars) invested in:
* Public plans * Registered pension plans (RPPs) * Registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs)
* Supplementary retirement income programs
Source:
Tables by subject: Employment insurance,
social assistance and other transfers<=== links to six more tables
[ Statistics Canada ]

Related link:

A brief history of pensions.
Pay attention because you may be about to lose yours
August 1, 2009
By Thomas Walkom
The drive to dismantle the welfare state has a new target. Governments have already gutted unemployment insurance and social assistance. Out-of-date labour laws make it tough to organize unions in the new, decentralized, service-based economy. Now, thanks in large part to the dynamics of the recession, pensions are under attack. (...) Even before this recession hit, it was clear that pensions were under the gun. Good retirement benefits, like good wages, interfere with what economists call labour market flexibility – that is, the willingness of workers to take low-wage jobs.
Source:
The Toronto Star

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From Strategic Thoughts:

Canada Pension Plan Loss at $25 Billion
October 8, 2008
It will be February before we know how much the Canada Pension Plan recently lost on the stock market, but a fair guess is $25 billion disappeared between the end of the first quarter on June 30th and October 8th. On June 30th the CPP had $127.7 billion in assets, $79.2 billion of which was in equities. On June 30th the TSX composite index was 14,467; on October 8th it was 10,056, a drop of 30.5%.
Source:
Strategic Thoughts
[Website of BC political pundit David Schreck]

More strategic thoughts - from September and October 2008
[HINT : click the links for earlier months.]

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From the Caledon Institute of Social Policy:

A Tale of Two Pension Plans:
The Differing Fortunes of the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans (PDF file - 192K, 46 pages)
Ed Tamagno
January 2008
The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) are headed towards an historical crossroads. The most recent actuarial valuation of the CPP shows that the federal scheme is sound in its financing and should remain financially sound for the foreseeable future, without the need for any increase in its contribution rate over the next 75 years. Not entirely so, however, for the QPP. Although the Quebec plan is in no imminent financial difficulty, its most recent actuarial valuation indicates that changes to the QPP’s financing or benefits must be made well before 2050 or the scheme will be unable to meet its commitments fully after that year. This paper examines the reasons for the divergence in the financial projections of the Canada and the Quebec Pension Plans and proposes ways in which the parallelism of the two schemes, which has been a mainstay of federal and provincial policy for over four decades, can be maintained.

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From the Department of Finance Canada:

Canada Pension Plan Remains Strong for the Benefit of Canadian Seniors
News Release
October 29, 2007
The Canada Pension Plan is on a financially sustainable footing for at least the next 75 years, according to the 23rd Actuarial Report on the Canada Pension Plan, which Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty tabled in Parliament today.

From the Office of the Chief Actuary, Canada Pension Plan:

Actuarial Report (23rd) on the Canada Pension Plan (PDF file - 799K, 132 pages)
As at December 31, 2006
Tabled before Parliament on October 29, 2007

Executive Summary (PDF file - 710K, 4 pages)
"...despite the projected substantial increase in benefits paid as a result of an aging population, the Plan is expected to be able to meet its obligations throughout the projection period [until 2075]."

Related link:

Pension funds in best shape in five years
Higher interest rates leave average fund in surplus position
October 24, 2007
Canadian pension funds are in the best financial shape they've been in more than five years, and have managed to build up a small surplus as a cushion against future setbacks, according to a report yesterday that credits higher interest rates for the improvement.
Source:
The Ottawa Citizen

Comment:
The next time the C.D. Howe Institute or Fraser Institute questions the sustainability of the Canada Pensions Plan and suggests that we need to dump or overhaul the program, just remember:
Office of the Chief Actuary = unbiased, responsible to the people of Canada.
Right wing think tanks = bias, accountable to the corporations that fund them.

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Review Finds Canada Pension Plan Is Financially Sound
News release
June 27, 2006
"Federal and provincial Ministers of Finance, as joint stewards of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), today announced the conclusion of their triennial financial review of the CPP. The review confirms that the CPP is on sound financial footing. "Our analysis suggests that the 9.9 per cent contribution rate will be sufficient to sustain the Plan into the foreseeable future," stated the Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance. "We have therefore agreed that the contribution rate will remain unchanged." By providing over 3 million retired Canadians with maximum benefits of up to $844 per month, the CPP represents a key pillar of Canada’s retirement income system. With assets projected to grow to $250 billion in the next 10 years, the Plan has been recognized internationally as an affordable model for securing adequate retirement income in the face of population aging and economic change."
- incl a backgrounder "Proposed Changes to the Canada Pension Plan"
Source:
Department of Finance Canada

Canada Pension Plan Pensionable Earnings Ceiling for 2006 up to $42,100
November 2, 2005
- includes, for 2006, maximum pensionable earnings, the basic exemption and employer/employee contribution rates
Source:
Canada Revenue Agency

Canada Pension Plan Financially Sound: Chief Actuary
December 8, 2004
News Release
"The Canada Pension Plan is financially sound for at least the next half century at the currently legislated 9.9-per-cent contribution rate, according to the 21st Actuarial Report on the Canada Pension Plan, which was tabled in Parliament today by Minister of Finance Ralph Goodale."
Source:
Finance Canada

Related Links:

Actuarial Report (21st) on the Canada Pension Plan
As at 31 December 2003
Tabled before Parliament on December 8, 2004
(posted December 8, 2004)
Executive Summary (PDF file - 24K, 3 pages)
Report without Appendices (PDF file - 706K, 47 pages)
Complete Report (PDF file - 972K, 128 pages)
Source:
Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions

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Canada Pension Plan - Statute
Canada Pension Plan Regulations
Source:
Department of Justice

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Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

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Federal-Provincial Review of The Canada Pension Plan
News Release
January 9, 2003
"The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is financially sound and is on track to provide retirement pensions in the future, federal and provincial ministers of finance announced today following the conclusion of their financial review of the CPP."
Backgrounder
Source:
Finance Canada

Hidden agenda behind the attack on the CPP: study
Press Release
February 14, 2001
Critics of Canada's public pension system are engaging in scare tactics, a prominent pension expert charges. In a new study Pensions Under Attack: What's behind the push to privatize public pensions, released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, independent economist Monica Townson says talk of a "demographic time bomb" and inter-generational warfare over pensions are deliberate attempts to undermine public confidence in the Canada Pension Plan.
Source :
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

A Primer on Federal Social Security Contributions (Canada)
By Philippe Bergevin, Economics Division
August 27, 2007
HTML version
PDF version (82K, 4 pages)
"Social security contributions are increasingly recognized by governments as an important source of revenues with which to finance expenditures on social security programs, such as government-sponsored pension plans and employment insurance programs. In Canada, social security contributions at the federal level – contributions to the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans and employment insurance premiums – totalled $39 billion in 2005-2006..."
Table of Contents:
* Overview (Employment Insurance - Canada/Quebec Pension Plan) * Pros and Cons (Equity - Efficiency - Administration and Compliance) * International Context

Source:
Virtual Library
[ Parliament of Canada ]

The Social Security Debate in the United States
18 August 2005
By Marc LeBlanc, Economics Division
[PDF version - 111K, 19 pages]

Table of Contents:

* Introduction
* Origins and Development of Social Security in the United States
--- Origins
--- Key Developments
*Current Systems
* Proposed Reforms
* The Social Security Debate
--- Is Social Security in Crisis?
--- Personal Savings Accounts
------ Ownership
------ Investment
------ Transition Costs
--- Addressing Social Security’s Actuarial Deficit
------ Increase Revenue
------ Decrease Benefits
--- The Need for Political Consensus
* The Canadian Experience
* Conclusion

Source:
Parliamentary Information and Research Service Publications <<<=== Check this out - links to 400 studies!
[ Parliament of Canada ]

U.S. Social Security Reform Resources (in reverse chronological order)

New from the
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

Policy Basics:
Top Ten Facts about Social Security on the Program's 75th Anniversary
August 13, 2010
“[Social Security] remains one of the nation’s most successful, effective, and popular programs. It provides a foundation of income on which workers can build to plan for their retirement. It also provides valuable social insurance protection to workers who become disabled and to families whose breadwinner dies.”

View the full report:
HTML : http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3261
PDF : http://www.cbpp.org/files/PolicyBasics_SocSec-TopTen.pdf (172K, 8 pages)

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What the Trustees’ Report Shows about Social Security
By Kathy Ruffing and Paul N. Van de Water
August 13, 2010
“On August 5, the Social Security Board of Trustees issued the 70th annual report on the program’s financial and actuarial status. The trustees’ report shows some mild deterioration in the program’s short-term outlook — a finding that was widely expected — and a mild improvement in its long-run finances, thanks largely to the recent enactment of health reform.”

View the full report:
HTML : http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3262
PDF : http://www.cbpp.org/files/8-13-10socsec.pdf ( 240K, 6 pages)

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Social Security Keeps 20 Million Americans
Out of Poverty: A State-By-State Analysis
Paul N. Van de Water and Arloc Sherman
August 11, 2010
(...) Although most of those kept out of poverty by Social Security are elderly, nearly a third are under age 65, including 1.1 million children. Depending on their design, reductions in Social Security benefits could significantly increase poverty, particularly among the elderly.

Source:
Center on Budget Policy and Priorities
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is one of the nation’s premier policy organizations working at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals. The Center conducts research and analysis to help shape public debates over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that policymakers consider the needs of low-income families and individuals in these debates. We also develop policy options to alleviate poverty

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Related links:

With Obama address, Democrats revive specter of GOP threat to Social Security
By Michael D. Shear and Lori Montgomery
August 15, 2010
Reviving a political tactic that Democrats have used before, President Obama said in his radio address Saturday that "some Republican leaders in Congress" want to privatize Social Security -- even though few GOP lawmakers today support the idea.
Source:
Social Security - A washingtonpost.com special report detailing the debate over proposed changes to Social Security, the nation's largest entitlement program.
- also includes links to :
* A Glimpse of Older America
* Aging Population Poses Challenges
* more similar articles...
Source:
Washington Post

The White House Blog:

Weekly Address: Honoring Social Security, Not Privatizing It
Video
Transcript
Posted August 14, 2010
Source:
The White House Blog
[ The White House ]

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Review of international pension reform, (PDF - 471K, 131 pages)
June 2010
By S. Collard and N. Moore
Source:
Department for Work and Pensions, London, Research report, n° 663, June, 131 p., (2010).
The eight case study countries selected for inclusion in this review were:
Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Uruguay
Excerpt (p.15):
The key implementation challenges faced by some of the case study countries were the protracted length of the legislative process, opposition from stakeholders and the logistics of setting up and running a new or reformed pension system. Three main conclusions seem to flow from the experience of case study countries with regard to pension reform implementation: First, pension arrangements are both complex and critical for individuals and society as a whole. Changes ideally need to be debated thoroughly with the stakeholders involved, such as employees, employers and the pension industry. This takes time, but the benefits of building a consensus around the proposed changes are considerable. Secondly, unless existing systems can be used, it takes time to establish appropriate and robust administrative systems. The more complex the system and the greater the volume of business, the longer is the time required. Finally, three quite different sets of stakeholders need to be managed: individuals, both potential contributors and those who will be excluded from the scheme; employers; and the providers of pensions.

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Top Ten Facts on Social Security's 70th Anniversary
by Jason Furman
Revised August 11, 2005
PDF version of this report (57K, 5 pages)
"President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935, which established a basic compact between generations: younger workers would contribute payroll taxes, and retired workers would have a more secure retirement. Presidents from Dwight Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan have signed landmark Social Security reforms to expand Social Security to provide disability insurance (1954), index Social Security benefits so people would not become poorer as they grew older (1972), and reform Social Security to add decades to its life (1983). As Social Security approaches its 70th anniversary on August 14, 2005, it remains one of the most successful and effective, as well as one of the most popular, of government programs. It provides a universal benefit that is progressive and lifts millions of people out of poverty. It also provides extremely valuable social insurance, providing payments to those who need them most — including workers who become disabled, families whose breadwinner dies, dependent spouses, and retirees who live to a very old age and outlive their assets. (...) As policymakers contemplate changes in Social Security, they should keep in mind 10 important facts about the program:
Fact #1: About half of the elderly have incomes that, without Social Security, leave them below the poverty line. Social Security lifts 13 million elderly Americans above the poverty line.
Fact #2: Social Security does more to reduce poverty among children than any other government program.
Fact #3: Social Security is more than just a retirement program: one-third of Social Security beneficiaries receive survivors benefits or disability insurance benefits. 10 million beneficiaries are adults below the age of 65, and 4 million are children.
Fact #4: For two-thirds of the elderly, Social Security provides the majority of their income. For one-third of the elderly, it provides nearly all of their income.
Fact #5: Social Security provides benefits to 48 million Americans, with the average beneficiary receiving $10,500 per year.
Fact #6: Social Security is especially beneficial for women.
Fact #7: Social Security is particularly important for African Americans.
Fact #8: Social Security provides an especially good deal for Hispanics.
Fact #9: Social Security provides a progressive benefit that keeps up with increases in the cost of living.
Fact #10: Social Security is an extremely efficient program, with administrative costs equaling only 0.6 percent of retirement and survivors benefits."

Source:
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP)
"...one of the leading organizations in the country working on fiscal policy issues and issues affecting low- and moderate-income families and individuals. The Center specializes in research and analysis oriented toward policy decisions that policymakers face at both federal and state levels. The Center examines data and research findings and produces analyses designed to be accessible to public officials, other non-profit organizations, and the media."

See also (from CBPP):

Putting the Social Security Debate in Context
- incl. links to : An Introduction to Social Security - The President’s Social Security Plan - Other Social Security Proposals - Social Security Solvency - Accomplishments of Social Security - Social Security by the Numbers

The Saver's Credit:
Expanding Retirement Savings for Middle- and Lower-Income Americans - U.S.
March 2005
"(Enacted in 2001, the Saver's Credit ... provides a government matching contribution, in the form of a nonrefundable tax credit, for voluntary individual contributions to 401(k)-type plans, IRAs, and similar retirement savings arrangements. Like traditional retirement savings plan subsidies, the Saver's Credit currently provides no benefit for households that owe no federal income tax. However, for households that owe income tax, the effective match rate in the Saver's Credit is higher for those with lower income, the opposite of the incentive structure created by traditional pension tax preferences."

Complete report:

The Saver’s Credit:
Expanding Retirement Savings for Middle and Lower-Income Americans (PDF file - 188K, 24 pages)

Source:
Retirement Security Project
"The Retirement Security Project is dedicated to promoting common sense solutions to improve the retirement income prospects of millions of American workers. It is supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts, in partnership with Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute and the Brookings Institution."

Google.ca Web Search Results: "Saver's Credit"
Google.ca News Search Results: "Saver's Credit"
Source:
Google.ca

Columbia Research Group Warns Against Ignoring Children in Social Security Debate
News Release
February 24, 2005
"Social Security is the single largest support program for children in the United States Although Social Security is the single largest program that provides support to American children, the debate over privatization has focused almost entirely on changes in benefits for retirees. (...) While it is true that retirees and their spouses are the largest block of beneficiaries from the program, over 5 million children in the United States benefit from Social Security, either directly as beneficiaries or indirectly as members of households that receive a monthly Social Security check. Of the 48 million people who currently receive Social Security benefits, one in three is not a retiree; one in 15 is a child under the age of 18."

Full Report:
Whose Security? What Social Security Means to Children and Families (PDF file - 90K, 10 pages)

Source:
National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) - New York

Related NCCP Links:

New Policy Brief and Fact Sheet on Social Security and Children
"Although most discussions of Social Security focus on its retirement benefits, the program is more accurately described as a family insurance program. Social Security is the primary, if not the only, source of life and disability insurance for many U.S. families, especially those headed by younger workers. Social Security is responsible for keeping many middle- and low-income children from falling into poverty when a parent dies or becomes disabled."

Questions for policymakers on Social Security and Children
"...questions policymakers should consider before proposing changes in the program that would affect the children and spouses of deceased workers, and disabled workers and their families."

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From The White House:

State of the Union Address
February 2, 2005
- incl. links to all related material

Text of the Address

On the subject of Social Security:
Saving Social Security for America 's Future Generations
More on the Bush plan concerning Social Security (from The White House website)

Counterpoint:

State of the Union: Key Policy Points
February 3, 2005
- President Tries to Have It Both Ways: Using Misleading Numbers About A Social Security Crisis While Advancing A Plan That Would Make Matters Worse
- New Details Indicate Administration Social Security Plan Would Entail Several Trillion Dollars in Borrowing
- Details From the President on Private Accounts Not Likely To Answer Key Questions
- The Administration’s Misleading $600 Billion Estimate of the Cost of Waiting To Act on Social Security
- Overview of Other Social Security, Tax Cut, and Deficit Issues in the State of the Union
Source:
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Related Link:

State of the Union Archive
- earlier years, right back to Truman (1945)
Source:
C-Span

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Slashing Social Security: Bush Plan Cuts Benefits
January 11, 2005
"President Bush and certain members of Congress have made it clear that privatizing Social Security is at the top of their agenda for 2005. The administration is likely to advocate for Reform Plan 2 from the 2001 Report of the President's Commission; this plan makes severe cuts to Social Security benefits. Social Security is a successful insurance program that protects workers and their families against the income loss that occurs when a worker retires, becomes disabled, or dies. Privatization risks this program’s success and endangers the many individuals who rely on its funds for survival"
Source:
Moving Ideas

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How has Britain’s privatization scheme worked out? Well, today, they’re looking enviably upon Social Security
February 2005 issue of American Prospect Online
"A conservative government sweeps to power for a second term. It views its victory as a mandate to slash the role of the state. In its first term, this policy objective was met by cutting taxes for the wealthy. Its top priority for its second term is tackling what it views as an enduring vestige of socialism: its system of social insurance for the elderly. Declaring the current program unaffordable in 50 years’ time, the administration proposes the privatization of a portion of old-age benefits. In exchange for giving up some future benefits, workers would get a tax rebate to put into an investment account to save for their own retirement. George W. Bush’s America in 2005? Think again. The year was 1984, the nation was Britain, the government was that of Margaret Thatcher -- and the results have been a disaster that America is about to emulate."
Source:
American Prospect Online

More American Prospect Social Security Coverage:

Bush's House of Cards: The Privatization Fraud
A Prospect Special Report
- links to over a dozen articles on the Bush administration's Social Security privatization proposals
To access this report, go to the American Prospect Online home page and click on the Special Report: Saving Social Security link in the left margin

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A Really Dumb Idea
November 2004
You can sum up Social Security privatization in four words.
By Robert Reich

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U.S. Social Security privatization - from Disinfopedia
"U.S. Social Security privatization is top of the neo-conservative agenda, following the reelection of George W. Bush in the 2004 Presidential election. Central to the campaign is an effort to persuade US voters that the existing Social Security system is 'in crisis' [1] (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002146127_socsec09.html). Meanwhile, Bush's allies at Fox News have been attacking AARP, which just happens to oppose privatization of the system [2] (http://www.newshounds.us/2005/01/06/demonizing_aarp.php). AARP has been in the administration's sights since at least early 2004, when an organization with a misleadingly similar acronym, the Alliance for Retirement Prosperity or ARP, was launched by Republican stalwarts."

Social Security - Public Agenda Issue Guide
"Social Security, the federal retirement system, is one of the most popular government programs in U.S. history and nearly everyone supports keeping it solvent. But no consensus has emerged, either in Washington or among the public at large, on what approach the government should take. Despite the recent slowdown, the economic boom of the past few years has helped push off the Social Security problem, with the latest estimates showing the fund able to pay its bills through 2042."
Source:
Public Agenda
"For over a quarter of a century, Public Agenda has been providing unbiased and unparalleled research that bridges the gap between American leaders and what the public really thinks about issues ranging from education to foreign policy to immigration to religion and civility in American life."

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Confusions about Social Security (PDF file - 195K, 11 pages)
Paul Krugman (Princeton University)
January 2005
"There is a lot of confusion in the debate over Social Security privatization, much of it deliberate. This essay discusses the meaning of the trust fund, which privatizers declare either real or fictional at their convenience; the likely rate of return on private accounts, which has been greatly overstated; and the (ir)relevance of putative reductions in far future liabilities."
Source:
The Economists' Voice - U.S.
(Editor: Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel laureate and former Chief Economist of the World Bank)

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Twelve Reasons Why Privatizing Social Security is a Bad Idea
December 14, 2004
"Addressing Social Security’s potential long-term financing challenges by taking the dramatic step of diverting its payroll taxes to create new personal accounts will have drastic consequences for federal finances, future retirees, and those who rely on the system the most. Learn more about twelve major reasons why less costly and less painful reforms should be considered instead."
Source:
The Social Security Network
[ The Century Foundation ]

Related Links:

Social Security Administration (U.S. Government)
"Visit the Social Security Administration Web site for publications and online resources to help you understand your Social Security benefits, how to apply for benefits, and the history of the Social Security program. You can also apply for benefits online."

Social Security Online
"The Social Security Administration's Web site provides information about Retirement, Survivors and Disability Insurance Benefits, and Supplemental Security Income.

AARP Social Security Center
[AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization for people over 50.]
"AARP maintains a special Social Security Center on its Web site. Visit the center to test your knowledge and find answers to some commonly asked questions about Social Security. You can also learn about issues and challenges facing Social Security, and you can tell your elected officials what you think about Social Security."

Four questions (and answers) from AARP
- Is Social Security Broke?
- Will Social Security be there for me when I retire?
- Couldn't I do better investing the money on my own?
- But aren't I paying a lot of money now to get a little money later?

National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

Center for Economic and Policy Research

Economic Policy Institute

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Conservative/Libertarian Counterpoint:
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Project on Social Security Choice
"The Cato Project on Social Security Choice has developed a market-based alternative to the current Social Security system. Rather than paying taxes into a government-owned fund, workers should be allowed to redirect their payroll taxes into individually owned, invested accounts, similar to 401(k) plans and Individual Retirement Accounts."
Source:
The Cato Institute
["The Cato Institute seeks to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace."]

The Heritage Foundation
"The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute - a think tank - whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense."

The Chilean Pension Model

What do pensions in Chile have to do with Canadian social programs?
It's all about the push toward private retirement pensions and the movement to dismantle the Canada Pension Plan..