Identity theft is a term that we all know and understand well, and many of us, if not all, have been the victims of it in one way or another. It is not surprising that identity theft is the fastest growing crime putting every one of us at high risk, and the fact that it was the second most reported consumer complaint at the Federal Trade Commission in 2015 proves its severity ( FTC releases annual summary of consumer complaints, 2016).
As suggested, it is vital to know and analyze the signs of identity theft to determine if ones identity is stolen and what course of action is needed in such a situation. I agree with the preventive measures described as these can reduce the propensity of the breach and keep ones personal information protected. A study has revealed that 87 percent of consumers while accessing emails and bank accounts, left their information unprotected (Cook, 2018).
Protecting social security cards and their details is an essential step together with ignoring and reporting unauthorized requests that ask for personal information such as birthdate, credit card number, etc., to security agencies. Similarly, frequent change of passwords, increasing password complexity, use of anti-virus tools, firewalls, and data encryption techniques surely mitigate the risks of a data breach. Other measures include limiting the information that we share on social media, keeping a soft copy of important documents only when necessary, and signing up for mobile alerts that inform you of every banking transaction instantaneously ( 8 smart ways to protect against identity theft, 2018).
The fact that individuals are prone to identity theft requires them to be ultra-vigilant and adopt as many measures as they can. Negligence on their part makes it easy for criminals to steal vital information.
The present Social Security system operates as follows: payment is made in Social Security while users work. Individuals who have already retired and those impaired are paid benefits with tax money. According to Faradzhov, in the long run, both the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program (OASDI) yearly rates of cost rates will climb from current 2020 levels (14.37 and 3.52 percent) (24). Social Security costs are expected to rise to 18.38 % of taxable payroll in 2078, then fall to 17.70 % in 2095 (Ramirez and Lewis 1013). Privatization will replace the current social security system, pay-as-you-go, with a system that is managed privately managed with individual accounts for each taxpayer. Those in favor of privatization think that doing so will result in higher savings rates, larger returns, and bigger retirement benefits. Due to several critical reasons, the current social security system should not be replaced by a mandatory private system.
Employees and their families current insurance protection against death and incapacity would be jeopardized. A portion of the money that covers the current insurance plan might be transferred into personal savings and investments, according to plans to the privatization of Social Security. The payroll taxes available to pay for individual accounts, on the other hand, are assets that are needed to cover current payments to survivors and disability insurance recipients, and also retirement programs. Simple math implies that for each $1 transferred from Social Security systems to individual accounts, the 37 % of recipients who are not retired employees would get a dollar less in guaranteed income.
The creation of private accounts might stifle economic development, putting Social Securitys funds in jeopardy. It was discovered that the state budget deficit would climb by more than 1% of the Gross domestic product each year for the next 20 years, with a maximum increase of 1.6 % of GDP in 2022 (Ramirez and Lewis 1028). According to Cooley and Soares in 2036, the national debt would be grown by a total of 23.6 % of GDP (740). That means that the debt load for each child, woman, and man will be 32,000 dollars greater in 32 years as a result of privatization (Cooley and Soares 735). Privatizing Social Security will significantly raise state debts and deficits, as well as the likelihood of a reduction in national savings.
Without protection from inflation, the purchasing power of seniors pensions would plummet during periods of high price increases. Since insurance firms would be exposed to large additional risks as a result of providing inflation coverage, they are likely to demand higher rates than the current 10 percent (Brown, et al. 31) For decades, the US nation has been properly served by current Social Security insurance safeguards. Diluting such safeguards in exchange for new accounts introduces a slew of new dangers while escalating the basically long-term issues that Social Security faces.
Cooley, Thomas F., and Jorge Soares. Privatizing Social Security. Review of Economic Dynamics, vol. 2 no. 3, 1999, pp. 731-755.
Faradzhov, Samil. Ensuring Social Security at the Level of Local Self-Government. Reality of Politics. Estimates-Comments-Forecasts, vol. 15, no. 1, 2021, pp. 22-33.
Identify and discuss at least two of goals, strategies, and tactics used by organizations in order to maximize budgeting and expenditures?
Typically, organizations seek to increase their budgeting and expenditures whenever they look to grow beyond existing limitations in some way or another. Growth requires additional spending and resources from the budget. Expenditures are typically associated with two strategies: the growth strategy and the technological advancement strategy. A growth strategy involves increasing the productive capabilities of an organization. It requires increasing storage and production spaces, hiring additional workers, and performing other activities to increase the scale of an enterprise (McKinney, 2015).
Technological advancement strategy, on the other hand, does not necessarily mean increasing the scale of production but rather improving its quality by providing new technology. This, in turn, would enable the organization to offer advanced services (McKinney, 2015). Either of these strategies can be used to justify increased budget expenses.
Discuss how financial management and budgeting concepts are applicable to public administrative organizations and the programs that are offered. Choose one organization to serve as an example for this essay
Financial management and budgeting are not foreign concepts for public administrative organizations. Historically, government agencies were funded from treasuries and budgets, which were comprised of tax money and revenues generated by governments through various means. The amount of resources available to any individual organization is finite, which calls for financial management and budgeting activities. However, there are differences between budgeting in for-profit business organizations and public administration organizations. The functions of budgeting in these organizations are as follows (Shafritz, Russell, & Borick, 2013):
Prioritization and allocation of available financial resources.
Achieving policy goals in the most prudent and efficient manner.
Providing accountability in regards to the spending of taxpayers money.
Ensuring compliance and increasing efficiency through financial means.
The local post office can be used as an example of a public administrative organization. Its purpose is to receive mail, send mail, and offer various administrative services to customers. All of these activities require financial and material resources. The financial management process would involve calculating expenses, estimating future expenses, managing income, and, in case the existing servicing capacities are not enough to support the influx of customers or are not up to the existing standards, increase budget spending in order to expand or upgrade the organization.
In your opinion, why do you feel Baby-Boomers are having an influence on political leaders to reform social security now rather than later? Provide examples supporting your response
Baby boomers are a massive generation born shortly after the Second World War. Born between 1946 and 1964, this generation is comprised of more than 74 million people in the US alone, according to the National Census Bureau (Leider, Coronado, Beck, & Harper, 2018). United together by shared views on many aspects of politics, governing, religion, and family, this generation represents a powerful political force that all major political players are trying to cater to in order to win their votes. As it stands, the passions of baby boomers revolve around social security, and for a good reason.
The youngest members of the baby boomer generation turned 54 in 2018, while the majority of them are well over 60 years of age. Old people are increasingly reliant on various social security institutions, such as healthcare services, social workers, and various other institutions aimed to help the elderly and the disadvantaged with various life challenges. As such, they are interested in supporting the social sector, increased taxes, and endorsing various policies that make their lives easier and cheaper (Leider et al., 2018).
Baby boomers exert political power just by existing, and here are some examples of it. The US healthcare sector has been predicting tremendous growth in healthcare demand ever since the early 2000s, which resulted in the adoption of various programs meant to benefit Baby boomers, such as Medicare. When Trump came to power, his initial promises of cutting the program were significantly reduced in order to cater to the large baby boomer demographic. In other words, Baby boomers will be a prominent political force for the next decade at the very least, which would promulgate the expansion of the social sector.
References
Leider, J. P., Coronado, F., Beck, A. J., & Harper, E. (2018). Reconciling supply and demand for state and local public health staff in an era of retiring baby boomers. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 54(3), 334-340.
McKinney, J. B. (2015). Effective financial management in public and non-profit organizations (4th ed.). Oxford, UK: Praeger.
Shafritz, J. M., Russell, E. W., & Borick, C. P. (2013). Introducing public administration. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Unemployed insurance is a program whereby qualified individuals who are not employed earn cash benefits for certain duration of time. The funds paid to these individuals are gotten from contributions made by employees, employers and other contributions from the government. It helps workers who have lost their jobs as a result of faults that are not their own to stabilize financially as they look for new jobs.
Many employers look at unemployment insurance as a task involving a lot of paperwork, something that makes it difficult for them. The rates of paying taxes for employers who have reputable records of averting layoffs are varied and might be very low. Employers who handle large numbers of workers who have left their companies and want unemployment insurance can be faced with a heavy burden (Gregory 321).
The unemployment benefits given to those who have lost their jobs are usually on a basis of insurance systems that are made mandatory by the government. Depending on laws that have been put in place and the status of the individual getting the benefits, the amount of money given may be very small and at times covers only basic needs. In other cases, the money may compensate the time the individual has lost when compared to the salary they earned.
This is part of a social security scheme which is larger. Unemployment insurance is extended to those people who have already registered themselves as unemployed. For the money to be considered, a condition that ensures that they are looking for work is imposed (Gregory 321).
In some countries, the obligation of offering unemployment insurance is left to trade or labor unions. This is aimed at ensuring that the government is not overburdened with tasks of identifying those who are qualified to get unemployment insurance. Some workers are not classified as employees but rather fall under the category of independent employers.
Most independent employers are not entitled to unemployment insurance since most of them do not adopt the procedures that are followed by other employers. For instance, they classify their workers as independent contractors in order to avoid meeting law requirements that are expected to be extended to their workers.
Some of these requirements include minimum wage, payroll taxes and overtime payments among other requirements. This makes independent employers different from other bodies that are involved with employment issues. These bodies have to comply with strict requirements that make it mandatory for them to be entitled to unemployment insurance (EDD 3).
Independent employers are also not liable to get unemployment insurance due to the nature of the sector they operate in. worker turnover among independent employers is high and most of the employers do not want to pay insurance premiums for their employees. This is because the workers leave the sectors at a higher rate hence it will be difficult for independent employers to handle the cases.
Independent employers are therefore not entitled to unemployment insurance since it is awarded to people who have lost their jobs from faults they did not cause and have satisfied certain legal requirements.
Works Cited
EDD. Overview Unemployment Insurance. 2011.web .25 July 2011.
Gregory, Mankiw. Principles of Macroeconomics. New York: Cengage Learning, 2008. Print
Social Security system grants benefits for older Americans, workers who become disabled, and families in which a spouse or parent dies. The period everyone feared in the 20th century is now underway as baby boomers began to retire. Currently, a reduction in Social Security paychecks value drives people to save money while working and claim their benefits after the full retirement age. The present paper offers a short insight into the rationale behind the tendencies.
Main body
The Social Security system emerged in the 1930s during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, however, the talks about saving money for retirement continue until the present day. Therefore, it is safe to say that the sole fact of providing Social Security does not lead people to avoid saving while working altogether, and there are two main reasons for this. First, the earning rate of the benefits grant does not seem to be enough to sustain the customary lifestyle.
Second, there are several retirement savings programs, such as 401(k) plan and IRA, which a wise investor would not wish to avoid. However, US citizens need to save much less than they would have to if they could not apply for Social Security benefits. In short, a glance at Social Security policy grants the understanding that it reduces the amount of savings US citizens have to make, although people still need to save money for retirement.
There is another point to consider while realizing how Social Security affects the pattern of personal savings for retirement. Recent researches show that delaying retirement for just three to six months has the same impact as savings 1 percent more of your salary over 30 years. The matter is because a person can preserve his or her savings and even keep contributing to the assets. Thus, some people would prefer working for extra 2-3 years rather than try to save more money during their lifetime.
However, the reality is that people wish to retire as soon as possible and people should not count on that to solve a shortfall caused by not saving enough. In essence, while Social Security provides additional benefits for those working after full retirement age, it is not considered a viable strategy for savings reductions during working years.
Instead of savings, some people prefer to continue working even after applying for Social Security benefits, however, there are strict regulations concerning the matter. In 2018 a person can work and claim 100% of his or her benefits only when earning under $17,040.
For every $2 made over the threshold, a recipient must repay $1 to Social Security. Hence, there are two ways of avoiding the penalty: continue working until the full retirement age without applying for Social Security, or get the benefits and have a side job with a salary less than $17,040. Although this may be true, it is crucial to understand that any benefits withheld while a person continues to work will apply later as a permanent addition to paychecks value after the full retirement. To summarize, the reduction in benefits associated with higher earnings may drive people to adjust their retirement plans accordingly.
Conclusion
The Social Security system is pivotal as it makes people feel better about the insecurities life offers and grants relative financial help during the hard times. At the same, the current state of Social Security benefits makes people work for more years and continue saving money for retirement. Moreover, the benefits may decrease in value throughout the years, as there is no guarantee the government grants that the law concerning Social Security will not become more severe. In conclusion, the present paper shows that there is a rationale behind saving more money while working and continue working after the full retirement age.
Identity theft is a term that we all know and understand well, and many of us, if not all, have been the victims of it in one way or another. It is not surprising that identity theft is the fastest growing crime putting every one of us at high risk, and the fact that it was the second most reported consumer complaint at the Federal Trade Commission in 2015 proves its severity (“FTC releases annual summary of consumer complaints,” 2016).
As suggested, it is vital to know and analyze the signs of identity theft to determine if one’s identity is stolen and what course of action is needed in such a situation. I agree with the preventive measures described as these can reduce the propensity of the breach and keep one’s personal information protected. A study has revealed that 87 percent of consumers while accessing emails and bank accounts, left their information unprotected (Cook, 2018).
Protecting social security cards and their details is an essential step together with ignoring and reporting unauthorized requests that ask for personal information such as birthdate, credit card number, etc., to security agencies. Similarly, frequent change of passwords, increasing password complexity, use of anti-virus tools, firewalls, and data encryption techniques surely mitigate the risks of a data breach. Other measures include limiting the information that we share on social media, keeping a soft copy of important documents only when necessary, and signing up for mobile alerts that inform you of every banking transaction instantaneously (“8 smart ways to protect against identity theft,” 2018).
The fact that individuals are prone to identity theft requires them to be ultra-vigilant and adopt as many measures as they can. Negligence on their part makes it easy for criminals to steal vital information.
Social security refers to an insurance scheme meant to cover people against social risks. It covers people confronted with conditions such as poverty, aging, disability and unemployment among others. This paper seeks to discuss the problems associated with social security. The paper will look into the major problems that that are affecting the social security scheme.
Problems with Social Security
The basis of social security which requires finances for supporting the services that are supposed to be offered is also the source of problems for the scheme. The principle of social security fund as was established in the United States in the year 1936 was to offer an opportunity for individuals to make savings through social security schemes and get back the contributions at a later time when the individuals are not able to work.
The inability to work was initially identified as either due to old age after retirement or as a result of disability. In this approach, social security was a self funded scheme. This has been the assumed state of operation of social security though fears have been raised that there may be problems that threaten the sustainability of social security. Specific concerns have been made with experts estimating that the social security fund will be bankrupt in about three decade’s time (Parker 1).
Aging Population
One of the problems that are facing social security is the shortage of funds that is realized from the fact that the program is paying out more money than it is receiving. This means that the program is gradually reducing its capacity to shield the public from the conditions that the program was meant to protect them from.
Though a trend into this effect had been forecasted and was predicted to be realized at least in the next few decades the economic instability that was realized towards the year 2010 changed the conditions and shortage of funds is currently being realized in the program.
The reduced liquidity of the program has been due to the fact that contributions have been to the decrease, a fact that has been realized due to aging population that is being realized in America as well as the increased level of unemployment that was realized along with the economic melt down of the year 2009. Consequently, increased number of people has been applying for benefits while contributions are decreasing (Parker 1).
The number of elder people in America has also been growing and is still expected to grow. This population was realized to be about thirteen percent in the year 2009 and is expected to increase to almost twenty percent in the next two decades. This percentage increase will mean increased number of dependents on the program and reduced number of contributors towards the same causing the problem of shortage of funds (AOA 1).
Baby boomers
Another problem that has been identified with the social security is the baby boomers factor. The baby boomers form the bulk of the American population and have been the main funders of the program. As they grow towards retirement age, the generation X which has fewer people will be the ones to finance the program for the boomers’ benefits. The higher number of the boomers will then explode the threat of shortage of funds (Socialsecurity 1).
Conclusion
The problems with social security is attached to its financial instability that it is likely to face as the trend shows that there is a likelihood of increased expenditure and decreased revenue. Aging population is the main factor to the problems.
Works Cited
AOA. Aging statistics. AOA, 2010. Web.
Parker, Tim. Top three challenges facing social security. Financialedge, 2011. Web.
Socialsecurity. Social security problems. Social Security Reform, n.d. Web.
The concept of social security system is complex, although understandable under rigorous exertion. Various socioeconomic factors inspired the concept of social security system. This essay discusses the historical, present, and future perspectives of the social security program in the US.
The starting point of Social Security lies in anticipation of how an individual or a family sustains income when age encroaches, or disability jeopardizes the capacity to work, when a wage earner dies, or when an employer encounters involuntary unemployment (DeWitt, 2010, p. 1). Every society, through history, encountered this challenge often and developed various strategies to address this issue. The diverse strategies intended to solve this problem were based on the interplay of individual and collective efforts.
Private insurance provided a historical basis for Social Security. In the seventeenth century, private insurance was the chief way that the affluent protected their assets, particularly real property. Nevertheless, the notion of insuring against consistent economic hazards and threats was established in the late nineteenth century in a model of social insurance.
Social insurance in contemporary industrial societies offers an avenue for mitigating setbacks of economic security. The ideology of social insurance is that, people contribute into a fund scheme controlled by the government, which it uses to reimburse individuals when they become unable to sustain themselves.
The U.S. social security system benefits are weighted to allow individuals with lower earnings get higher benefit relative to those with higher incomes. Thus, the system provides progressivity regarding benefits.
At the onset of the industrial revolution, the demand for a working social security was inevitable. In preindustrial era, most Americans depended on land for self-employment as farmers, artisans, and laborers (DeWitt, 2010, p. 2). They lived in extended families, which provided the principal form of economic security for unproductive members.
Economic security was not a threatening issue in preindustrial America because for people did not live for long due to poor healthcare systems and living habits. Nevertheless, with industrialization came prolonged life expectancy; therefore, the need for new and dynamic strategies for reliable economic security became a necessity.
The aforementioned transformation led to the development of many programs to maintain social security of individuals who due to old age or disability reached an endpoint of productivity. The last decade of the nineteenth century saw the conception of Civil War Pension program.
DeWitt (2010) observes that, the federal government started to pay benefits to Union War veterans and their living families about the commencement of war (3). The Civil War pension scheme became a genuine social insurance program by the end of the 19th century. This program was valid until 2003 when the last surviving widow of Civil War veteran passed on.
In January 17, 1935, the Economic Security Act was proposed and presented to Congress for discussion, which culminated into its enactment into law on August 14, 1935 (DeWitt, 2010, p. 4). Currently, this law is termed as the Social Security, which consists of seven distinct programs.
The aforementioned Social Security Act inspired the initial payroll taxes in 1937 and the 1942 introduction of monthly benefits. This represented a form of a vesting period during which the least amount of work will be prerequisite to monthly benefits qualification. In addition, this period provided time to accumulate some level of reserves in the program’s account prior to flow of payments to recipients (DeWitt, 2010, p. 7).
The Social Security program, following its conception, was more sensible compared to the current system. The original program reimbursed two types of one-time, huge benefit. An individual approaching age 65 then, would be entitled to payment worth 3.5 percent of his/her covered income, while deceased employee’s estate would get a death benefit computed in a similar manner. Therefore, I would ensure the future of the social security program by adopting the initial strategies, which worked satisfactorily for the benefit of all people.
Reference
DeWitt, L. (2010). The Development of Social Security in America. Social Security Bulletin , 70(3), 1-27. Retrived from web.
Social Security Agency was formally established in the United States of America in 1935. Through a parliamentary act, the agency was enacted to foster general welfare among workers. The federal government in America wanted to foster economic security among older workforce.
Previously, citizens were prone to uncertainties caused by unemployment, illness, death, disability and aging. For this reason, government authorities viewed such risks as serious threats to national economy. Later on, the agency benefitted workers since it sought lasting solutions to their financial problems.
Mission statement of the Social Security Agency
The social security agency is committed to execute security services to entire public through networks established at a nationwide level. In the meantime, several offices have been established in all regions of the state. They include Appeal councils, teleservice cards as well as processing and hearing centers.
Moreover, the state has formulated territorial partnerships and embassies all over the globe to increase their coverage in meeting the needs of citizens. Having done this, the U.S government has improved standards on health and occupational safety at places of work.
Financial reports/summaries of the operations of the Social Security Agency
Evidently, the financial report of the agency is quite detailed due to the huge costs incurred in both health and social security services. Though the government is the main sponsor, current available finances need legislative adjustments in order to avoid inconveniencing beneficiaries. The long-run financial predicaments are due to vast population of the aged hence increasing expences among individual beneficiaries.
About $49 billion was spent in the previous year due to weak economy that required the government to adjust income for workers. Moreover, as the economic performance improves, it is predicted that the number of beneficiaries will rise, necessitating the need for immediate response to ensure all workers are covered. However, the current scheduled financial costs to run the program are sustainable and, only require few adjustments to avoid disruptions.
Effectiveness of the agency
Social security agency has been an essential tool of the criminal justice system in USA. Social security workers help to serve as superintendents and staffs in criminal Justice system. For this reason, social security agency influence policies and decisions affecting social workers in the criminal justice system.
Services provided and training of personnel
Social security agency provides staffs who work at the front line in the criminal justice systems. Such social workers help in service delivery by assuming leadership roles. Moreover, they execute psychosocial activities in the justice system. Consequently, the agency is very meaningful in impacting change in the justice system.
Meanwhile, workers are trained to become professionals hence execute obligatory services. Social workers are provided with handy and academic exercises in order to handle psychosocial needs of persons in the Criminal justice system. Recruits are equipped with ethical skills in order to establish a legal balance between the system and the offenders.
Motivation of the Agency
The agency is motivated by the United States government who allocate funds for the program. This enables the agency to appropriately handle workers well. Besides this, training programs for workers ensures that they get effective skill to foster beneficiaries. Needless to say, recipients benefit from allowances given to them by the agency.
Improvement of effectiveness toward attaining social goals
To attain social goals, the agency needs to expand partnership with other related agencies to enhance effective service delivery to recipients. The agency should identify individual needs prior to providing care. Moreover, the agency should stick to specific roles to increase efficiency of services. Additionally, US government should monitor allocation of benefits to recipients and regulate policies that govern the program.
Social agency and its impact on the criminal justice system
The future of social security agency appears dreary due to the fact that criminal cases have become rampant. This has resulted into citizens criticizing it due to inadequate care provided to the aged workers. With economic recession, senior workers are becoming independent to cater for life after retirement. The criminal justice system is looking for partnership from other agencies to achieve the failed objectives by the social agency.
There is the need to pay special attention to women when addressing social security because of their higher life expectancy which means they will rely longer on social security. Women in their old age are twice likely as old men to be living in poverty (Aaron, Shoven & Friedman, 1999, p. 4). The need to look at social security along gender lines is because of the existing employment disparities between men and women. When a woman becomes widowed fifty percent of their income is lost making them poor. According to Tanner of Cato Institute (2004, p. 133), women work fewer years compared to men and also earn less than men, translating to low social security benefits.
Privatization will only benefit women if there are higher return rates for them. This can be done by investing in capital markets. Unmarried women are more vulnerable to negative effects (Feldstein, 1999, pp. 101). Women are more dependent on the state due to factors like divorce and widowhood, in addition to health problems. The marital status of women is linked to poverty in old age. Sixty percent of older women are single in old age compared to men who are at twenty-six percent.
There are two frames of privatization the first is the General accounting/ General equity frame where each generation is independent and does not support another generation (Estes, 2001, pp. 104). This system emphasizes that what individuals save is what they will earn when they retire, according to this frame the elderly are getting more than they deserve in the current system. The second frame is called the General Interdependence frame which advocates for generations depending on each other, rather than one consumed at the other’s expense (Kingson & Williamson, 2001, p. 369). The first system disadvantages women moreover it encourages individualism. It does not recognize women’s role in the family such as reproductive labor. Women’s role in the family such as taking care of children is necessary but unfortunately cannot be quantified like the private labor market.
Reasons why privatization will harm women
While social security guarantees the woman a lifetime income. Privatization makes a woman vulnerable to outliving what they have saved (Livingston, 2008, pp. 137). It leaves one with uncertainty because many negative things can rob the woman of their earnings for instance sickness, misjudgment, or bad luck.
Social security income is constant and is not affected by markets. Privatization is affected by factors such as market downturns which can cut on investments. This can lower one’s lifestyle which can even lead to poverty. Private investments do not guard against inflation. Inflation usually lowers the value of some investments. Social security is protected against inflation and this helps women since they live longer, the purchasing power of women is also not eroded (Rogne, Estes & Grossman, 2009, pp. 149).
According to Dixon, (1999, pp. 272), the earnings earned with privatization depend on a woman’s working years. This means that a woman will earn less especially if she took time to raise the family. Women who are divorced later in life would have to struggle over limited assets meaning they will probably get an inequitable share. With social security, the woman gets a specified amount of benefit automatically which is not affected by the next spouse who replaces her.
Wong & James, (2003, pp. 19-20), argue that privatization will harm the middle class and lower class women who need to be more concerned about privatization. The affluent women are not affected much because they do not depend on social security. The affluent woman can also afford the risk of investing a portion of their social security on the stock market. The affluent woman also can work longer years since they are likely to be in better health.
There were previous warnings about broken social security in 2001 by President Bush who suggested that part of it should be privatized. This should be a warning to women to stop relying on the state when they retire. If a woman wants a comfortable retirement then there is a need for her to save and invest early in life. The Bush administration has been accused of scaring the people to accept his idea of partial privatization. The dependence on social security is becoming tricky for women. Cafferty of CNN (2010, para. 3), reports that the government is using social security to pay for things, this means that the social security that women are depending on risks running out of money.
Conclusion
When handling the issue of social security, there is the need to also take into account aging as it has a profound impact on this concept. When the life expectancy of a population increases, what this means is that such a population shall be more dependent on social security for longer. In this case, it is important to take into account the gender element because there are indications that in their old age, women are twice likely to live a life of poverty in comparison with their male counterparts of the same age bracket. Since more than half the people depend on social security, the government needs to manage these funds better. More and more women are depending on it because of factors like the slashing of stock portfolios.
Reference List
Aaron, J. H., Shoven, B. J., & Friedman, B. M. (1999). Should the United States privatize Social security? Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Caferty, J. (2010). What should be done about Government Squandering the Social Security Surplus? CNN. Web.
Dixon, J. E. (1999). Social Security in Global Perspective. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Estes, C. L. (2001). Social Policy and Aging: A Critical Perspective. California: Sage Publications.
Feldstein, M. Privatizing Social Security. (1999). Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Kingson, E. R., & Williamson, J. B. (2001). Economic Security Policies. In Binstock, R. H. & George, L. K. Handbook of Aging and Social Sciences. San Diego: Academic Press Publishers.
Livingston, S. G. (2008). United States Social Security: A Reference Handbook. California: ABC-CLIO, Inc.
Rogne, L., Estes, C. L., & Grossman, B. (2009). Social security and Social Justice. New York: Springer Publishing Company.
Tanner, M. (2004). Social security and its Discontents: Perspective on Choice. Washington: Cato Institute.
Wong, R., & James, E. (2003). The Impact of Social Security Reform on Women in Three Countries. Web.