Democrats and Republicans support two key measures to help save Social Security. A recent survey from the National Association of Social Insurance found that members of both parties and Independents back these ideas. The first measure is increasing or eliminating the Social Security payroll tax cap.
Social Security taxes are only paid on the first $176,100 of annual earnings. This means wealthy people often pay these taxes on just a small part of their income, while most Americans pay on all of their earnings.
The survey considered two options: raising the cap to $400,000 or eliminating it completely. Both would require the wealthy to contribute significantly more to the program. However, research shows that these changes alone would not totally fix Social Security’s money problems.
But they would help a great deal. The survey found broad support for these changes across political lines. Democrats were a bit more in favor than Republicans.
Social Security tax cap changes
The second measure is raising the Social Security payroll tax rate slightly. The latest Social Security report suggests that if action is delayed, more than a 4 percentage point increase might be needed.
However, a smaller increase could work with other steps, like raising the payroll tax cap. The survey looked at a possible 2 percentage point increase. This would effectively raise the average worker’s taxes by one percentage point.
For example, someone making $50,000 a year would pay about $42 more monthly. While no one likes a tax hike, a small increase seems okay to most Americans. Again, Democrats were more supportive.
However, many Republicans also backed the idea. There is no sign that the government plans to make significant Social Security changes soon, and such decisions could take months or even years.
In the meantime, if you have strong views on how the government should handle this, consider contacting your representatives in Congress.
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