Increasing Public Understanding

of Social Security

Social Security Advisory Board

September 1997
I. THE ROLE OF THE ADVISORY BOARD........................1

II. FINDINGS: SSAS Obligation to Communicate

with the Public.........................................................................3

III. PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIAL SECURITY:

What the Public Thinks............................................................6

IV. RECOMMENDATIONS: What SSA Should Do To

Increase Public Understanding of Social Security......................11

V. SSAS PUBLIC INFORMATION ACTIVITIES..................21

VI. SUPPLEMENTAL VIEWS..............................................27

Social Security Advisory Board

An independent, bipartisan Board created by Congress and appointed by the

President and the Congress to advise the President, the Congress, and the Commissioner

of Social Security on matters related to the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs.
September 1997

MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD

For more than sixty years Social Security has provided basic retirement, survivors and

disability protection to millions of workers and their families. Throughout its history the

program has been viewed favorably by most Americans. Recent surveys found that eighty

percent support the idea of taking a part of every working persons income and using it to

support the Social Security system. At the same time, only thirty-five percent are very or

somewhat confident in the future of Social Security, and seventy percent are aware of the

changing worker-to-beneficiary ratio and the strain that this will put on future program

financing. The focus by the media on the short-term financial problems that Social Security

faced in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the more recent emphasis on the shortfall in the

long-term financing of the program, have had a strong negative effect on public perceptions.

As long as the issue of the long-term solvency of Social Security remains unresolved, this

dichotomy between public support and lack of confidence will likely continue. But the Board

believes that the public discourse about Social Security and its role in the long-term financial

planning of workers and their families could be significantly aided by increased understanding

of Social Securitys principles, benefits, and costs. As the Board stated in its March 1997

report, Developing Social Security Policy: How the Social Security Administration Can

Provide Greater Policy Leadership, SSA has the opportunity and the responsibility to provide

objective research and analysis that will be helpful in the upcoming national debate over longterm financing of the Social Security program.

The Social Security Administration recognizes that it has a responsibility to promote

increased public understanding of Social Security, and we commend the increased attention

that the agency is giving to communicating with the public. Nonetheless, a recent survey

indicates that only one-third of Americans believe that the Social Security Administration

provides clear explanations of benefits to Americans, and survey findings show that few are

very confident in their knowledge about the Social Security program. Clearly, more can and

should be done. In this report, we recommend a number of steps that we believe will

strengthen the agencys efforts.

We look forward to working with the Commissioner and the staff of the Social Security

Administration on this important endeavor.

Harlan Mathews, Chair

 Jo Anne Barnhart Lori L. Hansen Martha Keys

Gerald M. Shea Carolyn L. Weaver
Harlan Mathews, Chair

Harlan Mathews served as a U.S. Senator

from Tennessee from January 1993 to December

1994. Prior to that, he was Secretary of the

Cabinet for Tennessee Governor Ned

McWherter and Tennessees State Treasurer.

During his 13-year tenure as Tennessees State

Treasurer, Senator Mathews administered a

state-wide public employee pension program.

Jo Anne Barnhart

Ms. Barnhart is a political and public policy

consultant to State and local governments on

welfare and social services program design,

policy, implementation, evaluation, and

legislation. From 1990 to 1993 she served as

Assistant Secretary for Children and Families,

Department of Health and Human Services,

overseeing more than 65 programs, including

Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the

Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training

program, Child Support Enforcement, and

various child care programs. Previously, she

was Minority Staff Director for the U.S. Senate

Committee on Governmental Affairs, and

legislative assistant for domestic policy issues

for Senator William V. Roth. Most recently,

Ms. Barnhart served as Political Director for the

National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Lori L. Hansen

Ms. Hansen is a Policy Analyst at the

National Academy of Social Insurance. She was

a Technical Assistant to former Social Security

Commissioner Robert Ball in his capacity as a

member of the National Commission on Social

Security Reform. She was also a Special

Assistant to the President and Director of

Government Affairs at the Legal Services

Corporation. In addition, Ms. Hansen was a

senior professional staff member on the U.S.

Senate Committee on Labor and Human

Resources, Subcommittee on Employment,

Poverty, and Migratory Labor, and was

legislative assistant to Senator Gaylord Nelson,

then Chairman of the Subcommittee on Social

Security of the Senate Committee on Finance.

She also served on the professional staff of the

Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and

Human Needs.

* The Board currently has one vacancy.

Martha Keys

Martha Keys served as a U.S.

Representative in the 94th and 95th Congresses.

She was a member of the House Ways and

Means Committee and its Subcommittees on

Health and Public Assistance and Unemployment

Compensation. Ms. Keys also served on the

Select Committee on Welfare Reform. She served

in the executive branch as Special Advisor to the

Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare and

as Assistant Secretary of Education. She was a

member of the 1983 National Commission

(Greenspan) on Social Security Reform. Martha

Keys is currently consulting on public policy

issues. She has held executive positions in the

non-profit sector, lectured widely on public

policy in universities, and served on the National

Council on Aging and other Boards. Ms. Keys is

the author of Planning for Retirement:

Everywomans Legal Guide.

Gerald M. Shea

Mr. Shea is the Assistant to the President

for Government Affairs of the AFL-CIO. Prior to

his present appointment, he held several

managerial positions related to economic issues

within the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees

International Union. Mr. Shea served as a

member of the 1994-1996 Advisory Council on

Social Security.

Carolyn L. Weaver

Ms. Weaver is Director of Social Security

and Pension Studies at the American Enterprise

Institute. She was a member of the 1994-1996

Advisory Council on Social Security. She was a

senior adviser to the 1983 National Commission

on Social Security Reform and a member of both

the 1987-88 Social Security Advisory Council and

the 1989 Social Security Commissioners

Disability Advisory Committee. Ms. Weaver also

served as Chief Professional Staff Member on

Social Security for the U.S. Senate Committee on

Finance. She is the editor of Social Securitys

Looming Surpluses: Prospects and Implications

and Disability and Work: Incentives, Rights, and

Opportunities, and author of Crisis in Social

Security: Economic and Political Origins.

The Social Security Advisory Board*
I. THE ROLE OF THE ADVISORY BOARD

Establishment of the Board

In 1994, when the Congress passed legislation establishing the Social Security

Administration as an independent agency, it also created a 7-member bipartisan Advisory Board

to advise the President, the Congress, and the Commissioner of Social Security on matters

relating to the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. The

conference report on this legislation passed both Houses of Congress without opposition.

President Clinton signed the Social Security Independence and Program Improvements Act of

1994 into law on August 15, 1994 (P.L. 103-296).

The Boards Mandate

The law gives the Board the following functions:

1) analyzing the Nations retirement and disability systems and making

recommendations with respect to how the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability

(OASDI) programs and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, supported

by other public and private systems, can most effectively assure economic security;

2) studying and making recommendations relating to the coordination of programs that

provide health security with the OASDI and SSI programs;

3) making recommendations to the President and to the Congress with respect to policies

that will ensure the solvency of the OASDI programs, both in the short term and the

long term;

4) making recommendations with respect to the quality of service that the Social

Security Administration provides to the public;

5) making recommendations with respect to policies and regulations regarding the

OASDI and SSI programs;

6) increasing public understanding of Social Security;

7) making recommendations with respect to a long-range research and program

evaluation plan for the Social Security Administration;

8) reviewing and assessing any major studies of Social Security as may come to the

attention of the Board; and

9) making recommendations with respect to such other matters as the Board determines

to be appropriate.

 1
How Board Members are Appointed

Advisory Board members are appointed to 6-year terms, made up as follows: 3 appointed

by the President (no more than two from the same political party); and 2 each (no more than

one from the same political party) by the Speaker of the House (in consultation with the

Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of the Committee on Ways and Means) and by the

President pro tempore of the Senate (in consultation with the Chairman and Ranking Minority

member of the Committee on Finance). Presidential appointees are subject to Senate

confirmation.

Board members serve staggered terms. The statute provides that the initial members of

the Board serve terms that expire over the course of the first 6-year period. The first

members term expired on September 30, 1996. (The Board currently has one vacancy.)

The Chairman of the Board is appointed by the President for a 4-year term, coincident

with the term of the President, or until the designation of a successor.

The Work of the Board

The Board began holding substantive meetings in late Spring of 1996. Since that time, it

has been meeting monthly, addressing a wide variety of issues important to the Social Security

and SSI programs. Thus far most of the Boards efforts have centered on the examination of

issues related to long-term financing for Social Security, changes in the disability programs,

policy development by the Social Security Administration, a long-range research and program

evaluation plan for SSA, and increasing public understanding of Social Security.

Currently the Board has three Working Groups: the Working Group on Policy

Development by the Social Security Administration, the Working Group on Disability, and the

Working Group on Increasing Public Understanding of Social Security.

 2
w SSA has a responsibility to communicate in

an authoritative, credible, accurate, and

accessible manner with two important

groups: first, the nearly 147 million workers

who pay the taxes needed to finance the

Social Security system; and second, the 44

million individuals who are currently

receiving Social Security benefits.

w SSA has a particular obligation to inform

workers, whose dedicated taxes pay for

Social Security, about the benefit

protections provided to them by Social

Security, the financing of benefits, and the

operations of the trust funds.

w SSAs efforts to communicate with the

public should extend beyond providing basic

descriptions of the Social Security program

itself. The Social Security Administration

should take the lead among government

agencies in educating workers and their

families about retirement planning.

Adequate retirement income depends on

the strength of each of the legs of the

three-legged stool -- Social Security,

employer pensions, and private savings.

Helping individuals understand what they

need to do to ensure their economic

security in retirement should be a major

objective of the agency.

w Surveys show that only a fourth of the

public gets its information about Social

Security from the Social Security

Administration. The major portion of

SSAs communications budget is used

for preparing pamphlets explaining SSAs

programs, and these materials are

generally available to the limited

population that visits a local Social

Security office or makes a specific

request for certain information. SSA has

not had a long-range approach to

increasing public understanding. Efforts

that have been made in recent years

have been of short duration and have not

had adequate resources.

w There are significant differences in what

people know about Social Security and

these differences require multiple levels

of information for the public. For

reasons of resources and economy, most

public information issued by SSA is

expressed in very simple terms so that it

can be distributed widely to the general

public. This information may be easy to

understand, but some subjects, for

example, the role of Social Security in

retirement planning, or how the trust

funds operate, should be addressed at

several levels of knowledge.

II. FINDINGS: SSAs Obligation

to Communicate with the Public

 3

Helping individuals understand what

they need to do to ensure their economic

security in retirement should be a major

objective of the agency.
w The public currently has an incomplete

understanding of what Social Security

taxes are used for. There is

considerable confusion among workers

and beneficiaries about the difference

between the Social Security and

Supplemental Security Income programs,

particularly the disability portions of the

programs.

The agencys public information

materials do not make clear that Social

Security taxes paid by workers are

dedicated to paying benefits only to

those who have contributed to the

program over a substantial period of

time. SSI benefits, on the other hand,

are paid for out of general revenues and

only after showing proof of need. From

the beginning of the program, Social

Security benefits have been paid without

a means test, and have been meant to

prevent dependency rather than to

alleviate dependency after it has

occurred. The Social Security

Administration has a significant task in

clearing up the publics confusion.

w Although most people are aware of the

fact that survivors and disability benefits

are part of Social Security, they know

little about the extent of the protection

that the program provides or the

requirements for eligibility. A clearer

understanding of the survivors and

disability portions of the program would

enable workers to better coordinate their

insurance and other financial planning.

SSA needs to do more to inform the

public about the importance of these

benefits to the economic security of

workers and their families. SSA also

needs to do more to inform the public

about specific eligibility requirements

such as the age of eligibility for widows

benefits and the length of time

individuals must work to be eligible for

disability benefits.

w The public has not received clear and

comprehensive information about the

complex issues involved in ensuring the

long-term financial solvency of Social

Security, and SSA has done little to

convey information to the public about

these issues. Providing the public with

balanced and objective information

would improve the quality of the

upcoming debate about the future of the

Social Security program.

w SSA staff have developed a

communications plan that sets out public

information priorities and strategies for

communication. However, the plan is

limited in scope, and is directed primarily

at short-term efforts. It is not clear that

the agency considers the plan to have

high priority, as it did in the past when

Commissioners issued their national

The public currently has an incomplete

understanding of what Social Security taxes

are used for.

4

w At the same time that government

downsizing has reduced agency staffing,

SSA has experienced increasing

workloads. The combined effect has led

the agency to move away from a grass

roots approach to providing public
w The new Personal Earnings and Benefit

Estimate Statement (PEBES) will likely

become SSAs most direct and important

means of communicating with the public.

This annual communication with all workers

will provide a valuable opportunity for

increasing program knowledge and

understanding, but its content and format

need to be improved. The need for

individual financial planning should be

emphasized in the PEBES message.

w Another new approach for reaching the

public is through electronic services such as

SSAs World Wide Web site. Among

Federal agencies, SSA has been a leader in

use of electronic communication, but it has

not yet taken full advantage of this useful

new communications tool.

information about Social Security at the

community level through Field

Representatives and managerial staff.

Formerly, these local office employees

were actively involved with community

groups, employers, employee

organizations, and local media to whom

they provided program information as

well as explanations of how Social

Security fits into financial planning. This

emphasis on providing information at the

local level, which often was based on

materials prepared at the national level,

has been significantly diminished. SSAs

efforts at the national level, using the

mass media, cannot be expected to

replace the work done at the local level.

Overall, staff reductions and increasing

workload demands have affected public

information efforts.

5

Although most people are aware of the fact that

survivors and disability benefits are part of Social

Security, they know little about the extent of the

protection that the program provides or the

requirements for eligibility.
III. PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIAL

SECURITY: What The Public Thinks

Over the years the Social Security program has enjoyed wide-spread public support. Despite

this strong support, the numerous studies and surveys of public understanding of Social Security

that have been made in recent years show that understanding of many aspects of Social Security is

weak. For example, few understand how Social Security financing operates or how it relates to the

overall Federal budget, and there is considerable confusion about disability benefits. As the

summary of findings presented below illustrates, the publics knowledge about Social Security in

some cases is also confused and erroneous.

Most learn about Social Security from the media, whose coverage of the subject is uneven and

tends to focus on problems. Surveys show that confidence in Social Security falls during periods of

high media attention. As described below, a 1996 survey found that only 35 percent were very or

somewhat confident in the future of Social Security, although confidence levels varied substantially

by age group.

program (88 percent in a 1994 NASI/EBRI

poll). In addition, they are aware that

benefits are related to earnings, that the

program is supported by a tax on earnings,

and that Social Security is not meant to be

the sole source of retirement income. One

survey found that 79 percent know that

current workers pay for the benefits of

current beneficiaries (EBRI, 1994).

However, in the same survey, nearly twothirds thought that current workers pay for

their own retirement. Findings from focus

groups indicate that relatively few are aware

that the retirement age is scheduled to

increase under current law.

Beyond the basic fact of payroll taxes,

there is little understanding of how Social

Security financing operates or how it relates

General Knowledge

Surveys over the last three years show

that although many -- a half to two-thirds --

believe that they know a fair amount or a lot

about the Social Security program (EBRI,

1995, 1994; ACLI 1993), only about 21

percent are very confident of their

knowledge, and 37 percent are not too or at

all confident (EBRI, 1994). The level of

knowledge and the confidence in that

knowledge appear to have declined in the

last few years.

Other findings indicate that most

understand the basic structure of the

program, though there are areas of doubt or

confusion. Most know about the existence

of benefits under the disability and survivors

6

...the numerous studies and surveys of public

understanding of Social Security that have been

made in recent years show that understanding of

many aspects of Social Security is weak.
Survivors and Disability Benefits

Although most people are aware of the

existence of the survivors and disability parts

of Social Security, there is considerable

confusion, especially regarding disability.

Focus groups indicate that many people do not

distinguish between the Social Security (Title

II) and the Supplemental Security Income

(Title XVI) disability programs. A great many

people know or know of someone who they

believe is inappropriately getting disability

benefits, though it is not clear whether this is

DI or SSI. This belief that benefits are being

paid to those who do not deserve them

contributes to the feeling that Social Security

money is being mismanaged. Some think that

the money being paid in disability and

survivors benefits takes away from money

available for retirement.

While there is widespread recognition of

the need for a disability program, there is a

feeling that applying for benefits involves too

Fraud and Waste

Two-thirds of people in one recent

survey believed that fraud and waste in

Social Security would reduce their retirement

benefits. Over half felt that the program

was poorly managed. In an earlier poll by

the same organization, these opinions were

held by three-quarters of those surveyed. In

addition, 41 percent believed that too many

people getting benefits were cheating the

program (EBRI, 1995, 1994).

Source of Public Information

Relatively few get Social Security

information from official sources. In the

year preceding a 1995 survey, 66 percent

had heard something about Social Security

from radio or television and 57 percent had

read something in newspapers. (The

question did not distinguish between public

service announcements, news programs,

commercial ads, or other forms of broadcast

message.) More than 40 percent got

information from their friends and coworkers. Only 27 percent got information

from SSA, and 22 percent from their

employers. Only a third agreed that SSA

provides clear explanations of benefits to

Americans (EBRI,1995).

to the overall Federal budget. An EBRI poll

in 1994 found that nearly half of the public

believe that Social Security contributes to the

Federal deficit. Twenty-seven percent

agreed with the statement in EBRIs 1995

poll. Focus groups conducted by SSA have

found that many people know little about the

nature of the trust funds and their investment

policy.

 7

much paper work and requires the

assistance of an attorney.

Focus groups conducted by SSA have found

that many people know little about

the nature of the trust funds and their

investment policy.
In a survey done for Public Agenda

(1994), 70 percent were aware of the

changing worker-to-beneficiary ratio and the

strain that this will put on future program

financing. There is not a clear idea of when

the long-range problems will occur. Despite

widely reported findings that many,

especially young people, believe that Social

Security wont be there when they retire,

surveys and focus group discussions by SSA

and others suggest that this is more an

expression of concern than a reasoned

judgment.

 Media coverage of Social Security

issues is uneven and tends to focus on

problems. One study found that media

attention increases during periods when the

program is experiencing problems, and is

focused primarily on six topics: reducing

benefits, financial restructuring, reducing

eligibility, improving the efficiency of the

programs administration, establishing an

independent agency, and making the program

voluntary. Of these, the greatest attention is

given to reducing benefits and financial

restructuring (78 percent of television

coverage in 1992-1994). The media also

emphasize the need for change in the

program (68 percent of newspaper and

television coverage). In the period from

1977 to 1995, statements favorable to

change were nearly double those favoring

maintaining the existing program (Jacobs,

Watts, and Shapiro).

Lack of Confidence

Given the nature of media coverage, it is

not surprising that during periods of high

media attention, confidence in the program

declines (Jacobs, Watts, and Shapiro). The

percentage of people who were confident of

the future of Social Security declined in the

late 1970s and early 1980s, the period of

extensive media coverage of the short-term

8

financing problems of Social Security that

preceded the reform amendments of 1983.

It rose again in the late 1980s before

beginning another decline in the early 1990s,

when the issue of long-term solvency of

Social Security became a frequent topic of

media attention (ACLI, reported in

Friedland). In a 1996 survey, only 35

percent were very or somewhat confident in

the future of Social Security. There was a

significant difference by age group. For

respondents 65 and over the figure was 61

percent. However, for those 30-49 it was

only 23 percent, and for those 18-29 it was

33 percent (AARP, 1996). Similar results,

varying by age group, were found in a 1994

NASI/EBRI poll (reported in Friedland).

Media coverage of Social Security

issues is uneven and tends to

focus on problems.
 9

A 1991 survey found that 93 percent of

people still expected Social Security to be a

part of their retirement income (Reno and

Friedland). However, in 1995, 20 percent

said that they believe the program will be

eliminated in the future and nearly half said

they think that benefits will be reduced from

currently promised levels, either across the

board or for those who do not need benefits

(EBRI, 1995). People have more confidence

that employer-sponsored retirement plans (49

percent) or personal savings (56 percent) will

be available throughout retirement than that

Social Security will be (30 percent) (NASI/

EBRI cited in Friedland, 1994).

High Public Support

Concern about the future of Social

Security does not imply a lack of public

support for the program. A 1996 Cato

Institute survey found that 68 percent of the

public had a favorable opinion of Social

Security. About 90 percent of people below

retirement age agreed that Maybe I wont

need Social Security when I retire, but I

definitely want to know its there just in case

I do. (AARP, 1996)

In a 1996 AARP survey, 68 percent of

those below the retirement age said that they

would not opt out of the program if given the

choice. However this is a decline of 5 points

from the previous year. For people ages 30-

49, the decline was 8 points, from 72 percent

to 64 percent.

Support for the program is higher

among women than among men, though it

remains high for both groups. Ninety-one

percent of women and 76 percent of men

believe that the Social Security program

should be continued. This might result in

part from the fact that 72 percent of men but

only 53 percent of women were confident

that they could do better on their own.

Not surprisingly, higher income people

are more likely to believe they could do

better on their own. For those earning less

than $15,000, 47 percent believe that they

could do better, but among those with income

of $50,000 or more, 75 percent believe this.

Belief that Social Security should be

continued also varies by income level: 95

percent of those with incomes below

$15,000, 87 percent of those with incomes of

$25,000 - $34,000, and 77 percent of those

with incomes of $50,000 or more (AARP,

1996).

An EBRI poll from 1995 found that only

4 percent of those polled believed that Social

Security benefits should be eliminated and

only another 5 percent believed that benefits

should be reduced for all people. AARP

found that ten times as many people think

Social Security benefits are too low

compared to those who think benefits are too

high (40 percent versus 4 percent).

Concern about the future of Social

Security does not imply a lack of public

support for the program.
Abbreviations and Sources

AARP - American Association of Retired Persons

ACLI - American Council of Life Insurance

EBRI - Employee Benefit Research Institute

NASI - National Academy of Social Insurance

American Association of Retired Persons. Social Security and Medicare Anniversary

Research: A Study of Public Values and Attitudes. July 11, 1995.

American Association of Retired Persons. Social Security and Medicare: An Ongoing Study

of Public Values and Attitudes. Fall 1996.

Employee Benefit Research Institute. Public Attitudes on Social Security, 1995. March 1995.

Employee Benefit Research Institute. The Reality of Retirement Today: Lessons in Planning

for Tomorrow. January 1997.

Employee Benefit Research Institute. Retirement Confidence in America: Getting Ready for

Tomorrow. December 1994.

Farkas, Steve and Jean Johnson. Promises to Keep: How Leaders and the Public Respond to

Saving and Retirement. Public Agenda. 1994.

Friedland, Robert B. When Support and Confidence are at Odds: The Publics Understanding

of the Social Security Program. National Academy of Social Insurance. May 1994.

Jacobs, Lawrence R., Mark D. Watts, and Robert Y. Shapiro. How Much Government?: Media

Coverage and Public Views of Social Security. The Public Perspective. April/May 1995.

Reno, Virginia and Robert B. Friedland. Public Confidence in Social Security, Social

Security in the 21st Century. National Academy of Social Insurance. 1996.

Social Security Administration. Public Confidence Public Information: Focus Groups, Report

of Findings. June 10, 1996.

Social Security Administration. What the Public Says About Confidence in the Social Security

Program: Focus Groups, Report of Findings. July 21, 1995.

Tanner, Michael. Public Opinion and Social Security Privatization. SSP No. 5, Cato Institute.

August 6, 1996.

10

AARP also found that more than half of

non-retired people were willing to pay more

Social Security taxes to be sure that the

program would be there when I retire (55

percent) or to be sure that it would be there

for todays older people (54 percent).

However, other polls have found less support

for raising taxes. In a Cato Institute poll in

1996, 57 percent were opposed to payroll tax

increases, and a poll done for Newsweek in

January 1997, found that 54 percent opposed

a Social Security tax increase of one and a

half to two percent in order to stabilize future

program financing.
Develop and Implement a Plan

to Improve Public

Understanding of Social

Security

w The Social Security Administration

should develop a comprehensive

long-range plan that lays out a more

energetic and innovative program

for the agency with the objective of

raising the level of knowledge and

understanding of Social Security, and

of how Social Security fits into the

long-term financial planning of

workers and their families.

The Board urges SSA to take a far more

active role in informing the public about

Social Security and how it fits into an

individual workers long-term financial

planning. This will require a rethinking of the

agencys current approaches. SSA needs to

consider carefully the kind of information

that is useful for the public to know, and how

it can most effectively deliver that

information in a clear, balanced, and

objective manner. Developing an effective

long-range plan will require the close

attention of the Commissioner.

In addition to prescribing the work of the

national office, SSA should use the plan to

clarify and emphasize the role of SSAs local

employees in communicating with

community leaders, the local media, and the

general public.

The Board recognizes that SSA has

recently increased its efforts to improve

public understanding of Social Security. The

agency has been committed to

implementation of its most recent

communications plan to educate the public

and its employees about Social Security.

However, that plan is limited in scope, and

focuses primarily on short-term objectives.

SSA should also examine how it can

encourage others to contribute to the publics

knowledge and understanding of Social

Security, and of the role of Social Security in

providing economic security for workers and

their families in retirement, upon disability,

or upon the death of the worker. As

discussed on page 13, employer and

employee organizations could be helpful in

this regard. Also, a more active and open

relationship with the academic community

could well promote additional university

course offerings as well as increase the

number of research projects and published

studies of Social Security issues, which

should increase the level of the publics

knowledge in the long term.

IV. RECOMMENDATIONS: What SSA Should

Do To Increase Public Understanding

of Social Security

The Board urges SSA to take a far more active role

in informing the public about Social Security

and how it fits into an individual workers

long-term financial planning.

11
Provide Leadership in

Educating the Public About

Retirement Planning

w The Social Security Administration

should take the lead among

government agencies in educating

workers and their families about

retirement planning.

The Board believes that SSA, as the

administering agency for the Nations most

important retirement income program, should

be the governments lead agency in providing

the public with the information it needs to

plan for financial security in retirement. The

agency should ensure, however, that its

efforts are coordinated with those of the

Department of Labor, which has important

responsibilities with respect to employer

pensions, and with the Department of the

Treasury, which oversees 401(k) and other

tax-preferred savings instruments. These

agencies represent the three legs of the oftencited three-legged stool -- Social Security,

employer pensions, and private savings --

each of which is important in providing an

adequate retirement income.

In the year 2000, the agency will fully

implement the mailing of the Personal Earnings

and Benefit Estimate Statement to all workers

age 25 and over. This will fulfill SSAs

responsibility to inform workers about the

retirement, survivors, and disability benefits

that they will receive from Social Security.

But the Board believes that the agency should

take the lead in finding ways to communicate

with workers the importance of building on

The level of public knowledge and

understanding of retirement should be

strengthened. A recent survey by the

Employee Benefit Research Institute found

that the majority of working Americans

appear to have only a limited amount of

financial knowledge regarding issues

important in planning and saving for

retirement. (For example, fewer than onehalf of workers knew that a male retiring

today at age 65 can expect to live to age 80.)

The survey also found that only one-third

of current workers reported that they had

tried to figure out how much money they will

need to have saved by the time they retire so

that they can live comfortably in retirement.

SSA data show that currently Social

Security accounts for 42 percent of the

income of elderly individuals, and two-thirds

of the elderly receive at least half of their

income from Social Security. Savings and

pensions each currently account for 18-19

percent of elderly income. These data

demonstrate that Social Security is the

largest leg of the retirement income stool for

the aged. At the same time, Social Security

has always been intended to be a floor of

protection, and savings and pensions are

essential to an adequate income in

retirement. Workers need to have a full

understanding of how Social Security

 12

Social Security with private savings and

participation in employer pensions where

they are available. A basic message can be

included in the PEBES statement, but the

Board believes that more should be done.

The Board believes that SSA...should be the

governments lead agency in providing the public

with the information it needs to plan for

financial security in retirement.
fits with other sources of retirement income

and what they need to do to ensure income

adequacy in retirement. The Social Security

Administration is the agency that is best

equipped to promote that understanding.

w SSA should explore the possibility of

creating a partnership with the

private sector to develop a

coordinated effort to educate the

public about the need for retirement

planning, including the need to save

and to take advantage of employer

provided pension plans. Other

government agencies should be

involved.

Although perspectives vary, both the

government and parts of the private sector

have an interest in conveying a message to

the public about the need for retirement

planning. The Board recommends that SSA

initiate discussions with other appropriate

government agencies and with interested

private entities to determine the feasibility of

developing a public-private coalition to

promote retirement planning.

w SSA should actively enlist the help of

employer and employee organizations

in increasing worker knowledge of

Social Security.

The Social Security Administration has

developed a kit to give to employers to

help them explain the benefits that are

provided by Social Security. This kit has

been tested with a limited number of

employers and will soon be ready for

distribution.

The Board believes that this kind of

information packet, if carefully conceived,

written, and produced, can be extremely

useful in informing workers about the Social

Security program. Having workers better

informed about the benefits that are provided

by Social Security is in the interest of both

employers and employees. Workers can

better understand why their employer is

withholding Federal Insurance Contributions

Act (FICA) taxes. They can be informed

about the disability and survivors benefits that

will be available to them and their families

and the conditions for eligibility. They can

also better understand how Social Security

fits into their overall plan for retirement, and

can assess the extent of their need to find

other ways of saving, through their

employers pension plan, individual saving, or

both.

Focus groups and surveys could help

SSA determine what kinds of information are

most useful and how information can be

presented most effectively.

If SSA is to reach the large mass of

American workers, it will have to provide

information not only to large employers, but

to small employers as well. Although this will

require more effort, it is important to

remember that more than 40 percent of all

private sector workers are employed by

employers who have fewer than 50 workers.

13

Workers need to have a full understanding of how

Social Security fits with other sources of retirement

income and what they need to do to ensure

income adequacy in retirement.
Use New Approaches to Improve

Public Understanding

w Beginning in 2000, the Personal

Earnings and Benefit Estimate

Statement (PEBES) will likely

become the Social Security

Administrations most important

means of communicating with the

public. It needs to be made as

useful, accurate, and readable as

possible.

The PEBES presents SSA with an

important opportunity. For the first time,

SSA will directly communicate with nearly

all workers. The impression that the PEBES

gives to these workers about the Social

Security program could be critical to the

future of the program. While the PEBES by

law must contain each workers past

earnings and information about future

benefits, it could also provide factual

information about the program (for example,

as part of an annual message). Because it

will go into virtually every home in the

Nation, the PEBES will be how the Social

Security program is perceived by the

American public. If done well, the PEBES

can be an effective tool for explaining the

Social Security program, and can enhance

public understanding and confidence. As

noted above, it can also be an important tool

in financial planning for workers and their

families.

The PEBES should be one of the highest

priorities of the agency. It must receive the

most careful, high level attention with respect

to content and design. SSA acknowledges

that in its current form the PEBES is difficult

to understand and the format is too dense.

Concerns have been raised that the

PEBES does not adequately address the fact

that, under the Trustees intermediate

assumptions, the OASDI trust funds assets

will be exhausted beginning in the year 2029.

Although payroll tax and other income will

continue to flow into the funds, at that time

tax income will be sufficient to pay only about

three-fourths of program costs; that ratio is

projected to decline to about two-thirds by the

end of the 75-year projection period. The

Board believes that the PEBES should

acknowledge this long-term funding shortfall

and make clear that the Congress will need to

address it, as it has done in the past.

The Board recommends that SSA conduct

careful testing of the PEBES, so that

improvements can be made where needed.

SSA should make full use of its own

resources, including its Office of

Communications and the Office of Program

and Integrity Reviews, in designing the

PEBES. It should also call upon outside

assistance in its efforts to improve the

document.

The Board believes that the agency must

carefully evaluate the accuracy of the

PEBES. It is extremely important that SSA

do everything possible to assure PEBES

accuracy during the phase-in period. It is

critical to public confidence in Social Security

that the information provided by SSA to the

public always be accurate and consistent.

The PEBES presents SSA with an important

opportunity. For the first time, SSA will directly

communicate with nearly all workers.

14
w SSAs Web site needs to be made

more user-friendly.

As Internet usage increases, SSAs

World Wide Web site ( http://www.ssa.gov)

will gain importance as a way to

communicate with the public, both for

educational purposes and for providing

services. Thus, the site needs to be easy to

navigate and as user-friendly as possible.

As currently designed, the site provides

the knowledgeable user access to

considerable information. A user who knows

exactly what he or she needs can find the site

to be highly efficient. However, the site is

less helpful to a user who is unfamiliar with

the agency and its programs.

The Board believes that the Web site

could play a useful role in educating the

public about Social Security programs.

However, SSAs Web site, as currently

designed, focuses on providing specific

technical information and answers to detailed

questions, but does not assume the role of an

educational tool for the general public.

While SSA does provide detailed

information (such as actuarial estimates and

facts about the disability redesign process)

about some of its programs, it is difficult to

find basic descriptions of the various

programs the agency administers and how

they differ from each other. SSA should

make basic facts about program benefits and

sources of funding more readily accessible.

w The Social Security Administration

should develop additional tools to

increase public understanding of

Social Security.

Over the years SSA has developed a

variety of ways to inform the public about

Social Security programs. In addition to the

PEBES and its new Web site, SSA has

numerous publications that provide eligibility

and benefit information. Its Office of

Communications currently undertakes

various activities to improve public

knowledge and understanding of Social

Security.

Despite these efforts, it is clear that the

level of the publics knowledge and

understanding of Social Security remains

low.

In a separate report, the Board has set

forth recommendations for strengthening

SSAs policy development and research

capacity, including enhancing the staff who

have responsibility for these functions. The

Board recommends that SSA make use of

this enhanced capacity to develop new ways

of communicating with the public and of

increasing SSAs reputation as a source of

accurate and objective information about

Social Security.

For example, research and policy staff

could be asked to prepare papers similar to

those produced by the Congressional

Research Service, providing information and

analysis of issues important to Social

Security. These could be made widely

available to the Congress, the media, and

others who help inform the public.

SSA should also consider sponsoring

seminars and conferences on important

policy issues, bringing together a range of

opinions and perspectives. This could serve

to strengthen the agencys own capacity to

analyze issues, as well as to inform policy

makers and the larger public.

The Board supports increased

consultation and cooperation between the

agency and the Board in pursuing their

mutual responsibility to increase the publics

understanding of Social Security.

15
Target Information Efforts on

Areas Where Public

Understanding is Weak

w SSA should develop ways to help the

public understand the issues that are

involved in assuring the long-term

solvency of the Social Security

system.

Although the public is aware that Social

Security financing needs to be fixed in the

long term, it has only a weak understanding

of the size of the financing problem or of the

many issues that have been raised in the

debate that has begun over the future of

Social Security, such as how a particular

change may affect current and future benefit

levels, the impact on the Federal budget and

on the Social Security program of different

trust fund investment strategies, and the

effects of increasing the age of retirement on

individuals and businesses.

Many individuals and institutions will

take part in this debate. However, the Board

believes that because the Social Security

Administration is uniquely qualified to

provide policy makers and the public with

data, research findings, and analysis, the

agency can and should play an important role

in informing the public about the issues

involved in assuring the solvency of Social

Security. To assure the maximum use of

resources, SSA should take the initiative in

coordinating its efforts with other agencies

of government. SSA should take steps to

encourage others who are knowledgeable

about Social Security, in the academic

community and elsewhere, to contribute their

efforts as well.

w SSA should increase its efforts to

inform the public about survivors

and disability benefits.

Information from focus groups shows

that even when individuals are aware that

Social Security provides survivors and

disability benefits, their level of

understanding of those benefits is weak and

incomplete. They are unaware of their high

potential value to millions of Americans, and

to themselves, should they need them. In

fact, more than 13 million people, or nearly

one-third of all Social Security beneficiaries,

are currently receiving benefits on the basis

of disability or survivorship. Information that

will be provided in the Personal Earnings and

Benefit Estimate Statement (PEBES), when

it begins to be mailed to nearly all workers in

fiscal year 2000, should help increase

awareness of the value of these benefits and

the requirements that must be met to receive

them. However, the Board believes that

SSA should examine all of its tools of

communication, including its new Web site,

to see what changes can be made to make

information about survivors and disability

benefits more visible and understandable to

the public, and to promote better

understanding of the conditions of eligibility.

16

...SSA should examine all of its tools of

communication...to see what changes can

be made to make information about survivors

and disability benefits more visible and

understandable to the public...
w SSA should also increase its efforts

to provide basic program

information to younger workers.

Workers under age 25 will not receive

PEBES statements, but they also have a

need for information on payroll taxes,

earnings records, and future retirement,

survivors, and disability benefits. SSA should

conduct research to determine the most

effective means of meeting the information

needs of younger workers and of those who

will be entering the work force in the future,

and should follow up with appropriate action.

w The agency should make clear to the

public that Social Security payroll

taxes are used only for Social

Security benefits and not for SSI.

There is considerable public confusion

between the Title II Old-Age, Survivors, and

Disability programs, under which benefits

are based on a workers earnings record,

and the Title XVI SSI aged, blind, and

disability programs, under which benefits are

paid only to those who meet income and

asset requirements. Many people, according

to SSAs focus group findings, think that

these programs are one and the same. They

do not understand that Social Security taxes

are dedicated to paying Social Security

benefits as an earned right only to those who

have contributed to the program and to their

dependents and survivors, whereas SSI

benefits are paid from general revenues and

are based on a showing of need.

SSA has an obligation to do more than it

is currently doing to clarify more precisely

what payroll taxes are being used for and

what they are not being used for. For

example, articles that appear in SSAs

publication Social Security Today, which is

widely distributed as a means of informing the

public about Social Security programs,

do not always make a clear distinction

between the programs. The public media also

frequently do not make a distinction.

The Board urges SSA to do more to

educate the media and the public on the

differences between the two programs.

w Greater attention should be given to

the already-scheduled increases in

the retirement age, which will begin

in less than three years.

The Board believes that the public needs

to understand that the age at which full

benefits are paid (currently age 65) will be

increasing as the result of legislative changes

made in 1983. Surveys indicate that most

people are unaware that the retirement age

will increase to age 67 by the year 2022,

which could have a significant impact on

individual retirement and financial planning

decisions. Bringing attention to this change is

also important to public understanding of more

recent recommendations for change that have

been made, including the recommendation by

a majority of the members of the 1994-1996

Advisory Council on Social Security for

further increases in the retirement age.

SSA has an obligation to do more than

it is currently doing to clarify more precisely

what payroll taxes are being used for and

what they are not being used for.

 17
Commit Sufficient Resources to

Do the Job

w The Social Security Administration

needs to assure that both its Office

of Communications and its field

offices have sufficient staff to

perform their public information

responsibilities, and that these staffs

have appropriate experience and

training.

The Board is concerned that the staffing

limitations SSA has experienced in recent

years have affected its ability to perform the

public information responsibilities that the

Board believes are necessary. The Board

questions whether the staff currently has the

level of experience, training, and program

knowledge that it needs to communicate

effectively with the public.

The Board understands that, since the

1980s, the Office of Communications has not

actively recruited new staff who have strong

program knowledge or communications

skills. Also, many of the current employees

in public information positions are eligible or

close to being eligible for retirement. It

would appear to be essential to strengthen

the staffing of this important function.

The Board is also concerned that the

problem of inadequate staffing for public

information responsibilities extends to SSAs

field offices as well. As noted below (see

Make the Most of Agency Resources), the

number of employees dedicated to public

information activities at the local level has

also declined since the early 1980s. As in the

Office of Communications, field personnel

also face the problem of lack of adequate

training to communicate effectively with the

public.

w In preparing its multi-year

communications plan, the agency

should plan for the resource needs

of an expanded public information

program.

The agencys budget request for fiscal

year 1998 provides for continuation of the

same level of spending for public information

activities as in the current year -- about

$5 million, excluding personnel costs. The

Board understands that this budget is about

$1 million less than it was 5 years ago.

Given the public information responsibilities

that the Board believes SSA must assume in

the future, the Board urges SSA to review its

budget needs and plan accordingly.

 18

The Board is concerned that the staffing

limitations SSA has experienced in recent years

have affected its ability to perform the public

information responsibilities that the

Board believes are necessary.
Make the Most of Agency

Resources

w As the agencys most important

communicator with the public, the

Commissioner of Social Security

should take the lead in the effort to

promote public understanding.

Experience has shown that the

Commissioner, more than any other agency

official, has the authority and the ability to

call the attention of the media, and therefore

of the public, to matters relating to Social

Security. The Board urges the Commissioner

to take advantage of the opportunity to

improve the publics knowledge and

understanding of Social Security issues.

w The agencys many knowledgeable

employees in communities

throughout the Nation constitute a

valuable resource for increasing the

publics understanding of Social

Security. The agency should make

greater use of this resource.

Although local office managers have

long performed a public information role,

and, in fact, informing the public about Social

Security was once regarded as a highly

important aspect of the managers job, the

importance of this role has diminished over

the years. The Board has been told that

there are many local office managers today

who do not see communicating with the

public as one of their duties, in part because

of other demands on their time. This

problem of conflicting demands has been

exacerbated by substantial reductions

in the number of managerial staff in field

offices.

The Board urges SSA to place renewed

emphasis on the task of promoting public

understanding of Social Security through its

local managers and other staff, and, where

necessary, to provide training as well as

appropriate and objective informational

materials to help these individuals talk with the

public about Social Security. Given the

publics high level of interest in and concern

about Social Security, it is clear that

these employees could provide a valuable

service in their communities by participating in

discussions about Social Security and making

themselves available to local media.

w SSA should evaluate the most effective

means of conducting public

information activities at the field office

level, including the role of managers,

Field Representatives, and

Metropolitan Public Affairs

Specialists.

Traditionally Field Representatives have

coordinated public information activities with

the local media, community groups, local

government agencies, schools, and the general

public. This function has diminished as the

number of Field Representatives has

decreased. As indicated above, the demands

on managerial staff have also increased,

which has limited their capacity to do public

information work. SSA has recently increased

the number of Metropolitan Public Affairs

Specialists, and this new position may have

significant potential for enhancing the

performance of public information

responsibilities.

 19

The Board urges SSA to place renewed emphasis on the

task of promoting public understanding of Social Security

through its local managers and other staff...
The Board urges SSA to determine the

most effective use of staff for public

activities, including how to meet needs in

both metropolitan and rural areas. The

Board also believes it is important that staff

selected for public information positions

have the requisite communications skills and

that appropriate training be provided.

w SSA should consider whether its

efforts to increase public

understanding can be made more

effective by assuring better

coordination within the agency.

There are several offices within SSA

with functions that involve communicating

with the public.

At the present time, the Deputy

Commissioner for Communications has

responsibility for planning, coordinating, and

evaluating the agencys nationwide public

communications program. Within each of SSAs

10 regions, there is a Regional Public Affairs

Officer who is responsible for public affairs

within the region. Under a recent organizational

change, the Regional Public Affairs Officers

have a dual reporting relationship to the Regional

Commissioners and to the Deputy Commissioner

for Communications.

The Board recommends that SSA carefully

consider whether the current arrangement, with

its varied reporting relationships, is the most

effective way of providing a coordinated national

effort to improve public understanding.

20

...it is important that staff selected for

public information positions have the

requisite communications skills and that

appropriate training be provided.
V. SSAS PUBLIC INFORMATION ACTIVITIES

Public information has always been a function of the Social Security Administration. In the

organizational structure of the 1940s, there was an Office of Informational Services that reported

directly to the Social Security Board. This Office had a key role in informing the public about the new

Social Security program, participation requirements, and program benefits. Successor organizations

have generally had a direct reporting relationship to the Commissioner. Over the last decade, the Office

has been headed by a Presidential appointee.

SSAs public information activities have generally centered on printed pamphlets for distribution

through local offices, radio and television public service announcements, newsletters to advocacy

groups, and packages of materials prepared at the national level for use with local media and

organizations. In the past, SSA also produced short films for use in outreach activities at the field office

level. Changing technology has expanded activities to cable television (and the use of videos as

opposed to films) and the Internet, and created the capacity to do Personal Earnings and Benefit

Estimate Statements (PEBES). Reductions in resources have meant fewer public information activities

overall, but especially at the field office level (see below).

In the early 1980s, SSA had a public information campaign targeted to younger workers that

emphasized survivors and disability benefits. SSA also contracted with the Advertising Council for

public service campaigns on public confidence in 1988 and 1990. In addition to these larger public

information efforts, SSA has had annual national communications objectives, over the last 20 years

that have attempted to establish agency priorities.

Overview

Within the Social Security Administration, the major responsibility for public information is assigned

to the Office of Communications. That Office has developed a National Communications Plan to

outline the strategies and activities necessary to educate the public and our own employees about Social

Security. The first phase of the Plan, which began in July 1995, includes four main messages:

w SSAs programs and the fact that Social Security is more than retirement,

w The concept of social insurance: what it is and how it works,

w Program funding: taxes and administrative costs; and

w The need for a Social Security program: its history and rationale.

The second phase of the National Communications Plan is running concurrently with a continuation

of Phase I. The focus of Phase II is to educate the public about options for changes in the Social

Security program and to attempt to answer the principal questions being asked in the current national

dialogue about Social Security.

21
The Role of the Office of

Communications

Within the Office of Communications

there is a staff of 56 employees who are

involved in planning, coordinating, and

evaluating SSAs public information

activities and in producing most of the

printed and electronic media materials used

by SSA. This staff is located at SSAs

headquarters in Baltimore.

The budget for public information

activities in fiscal year 1997 is about

$5 million, exclusive of personnel costs.

The major portion of the budget, about

$3.2 million, is for printed materials which

are disseminated primarily through SSA

offices across the country. The printed

materials include about 90 SSA

publications, including six basic

informational pamphlets; materials targeted

to specific issues or audiences, such as

one-page fact sheets on individual State

SSI supplements and an explanation of the

government pension offset; and posters for

display in Social Security offices and other

sites.

The second largest portion of the

budget, about $1.2 million, is for

contractual services primarily related to the

preparation of electronic media materials.

In fiscal year 1997, SSA had plans to do 7

radio or television public service

announcements, 14 videos for cable

television and use by SSA field offices, and

3 satellite broadcasts, including one that

involves an interactive dialogue between

SSA and private employers concerning

retirement planning.

22

Included in the total budget amount is

$1.68 million which is earmarked for initiatives to

strengthen public understanding of SSA

programs. A portion of this money is being used

for the agencys exhibits program (which

includes SSAs participation at numerous

meetings and selected national conventions) and

for training of SSA public affairs employees.

Other Office of Communications public

information activities are described below.

SSA has a four-person Press Office, which

became part of the Office of Communications in

a recent organizational change. The primary

responsibilities of the Press office are monitoring

press coverage around the country (with the

assistance of Regional Public Affairs Officers),

serving as SSAs spokesperson to the national

press corps, advising the Commissioner and

executive staff on how issues will be perceived

by the press, and developing strategies for

dealing with the press.

The Press Office also arranges interviews

with the Commissioner, including when the

Commissioner is traveling in other parts of the

country. In addition, it develops op-ed pieces on

key issues and responds to media reports that

contain inaccurate or misleading information.

The Role of Other SSA Offices

While the Office of Communications has the

major role in the planning and coordination of

SSAs public information efforts, an important

part of the implementation of the National

Communications Plan is done by SSAs field

offices. SSAs 10 regional offices also have

coordinating and supportive roles. Historically,

SSA has used a grass roots approach to reach

the public. Local Social Security officials have
been expected to develop close working

relationships with local media and community

organizations. They have greater access to

local media than SSA has at the national

level, where there is greater competition for

air time and print space.

There is a Regional Public Affairs

Officer in each of SSAs 10 regions who is

responsible for public affairs within the

region and who reports to the Regional

Commissioner. (There is a dual reporting

relationship to the Deputy Commissioner for

Communications.) In addition, there are now

about 60 Metropolitan Public Affairs

Specialists in cities across the country. They

are responsible for local press and public

information activities. They report to Area

Directors, who are responsible for

management of SSA field offices in about 50

geographical areas in the country. SSA has

been increasing the number of Metropolitan

Public Affairs Specialists in recent years.

SSAs local office public information

activities have changed markedly in the last

decade or so. Until the early-to-mid 1980s,

each field office had Field Representatives,

whose primary job was to work with the

public and the media on informational

activities. Field Representatives also

completed claims outside of SSA field

offices, but they were usually thought of as

public information specialists. In 1980, SSA

had about 1400 Field Representatives who

provided continuity of contacts within the

community, especially with the media.

 The effects of increased workloads and

fewer staff in field offices have caused the

number of Field Representatives to diminish

significantly to 414 today. Furthermore, the

focus of the Field Representative job has

generally changed from public information to

taking claims. The curtailment of public

information work by local employees is

believed by many long-time SSA employees

to be linked to a decline in public

understanding of the Social Security

program. SSA is using the Metropolitan

Public Affairs Specialist position in major

metropolitan areas to develop working

relationships with the media and the public

similar to those the Field Representatives

previously had. One region used its

Metropolitan Public Affairs Specialists to do

extensive outreach after enactment of the

1996 welfare reform legislation, and in doing

so, believes that it helped public

understanding of the changes.

One of the public information products

that has been used extensively by field

offices is a monthly information package of

draft news stories and radio and television

announcements that are designed for local

use. There is potential for greater use of this

package to convey the primary messages in

the National Communications Plan, but the

effectiveness of this approach is very much

tied to the adequacy of staff resources at the

field office level as well as nationally.

23
 24

SSAs Current Activities

w Informational pamphlets and fact

sheets -- The Office of Communications

produces six basic pamphlets covering

SSAs major programs and a variety of

special publications, including

information sent to new beneficiaries.

One of the basic publications, Social

Security: Basic Facts, explains how the

program works and the need to

supplement Social Security through

pensions, savings and investments.

w Monthly information package -- To

assist SSA field offices in their public

information efforts, the Office of

Communications electronically sends a

package of draft news releases and

information columns to all offices.

There is a monthly theme (e.g., Social

Security and women), and the package

may include op-ed pieces, columns for

release under the by-line of a local

manager, and questions and answers for

publication. The materials tend to focus

on benefits available under the Social

Security and SSI programs.

w Multi-media public service

announcements and programming -- As

indicated above, the Office of

Communications produces a limited

number of public service

announcements which the Office

attempts to place on national or regional

radio and television. The Office has

also developed seven videos that are

primarily targeted to cable channels,

which have been receptive to such

programming. One example is the

video, Evolution of Social Security, a

brief documentary describing the

development of Social Security.

Another video, Planning Your Financial

Future, is for use by financial planners

and insurance agents.

w Information kit for employers -- The kit

is a package of materials to help

employers and employees understand

the Social Security program and its

benefits. Employers will be encouraged

to reproduce the materials and distribute

publications or post them on bulletin

boards. According to SSA, the kits,

which were tested with 60 companies of

varying sizes, will be available before the

end of the year for distribution to Social

Security field offices for use in local and

regional public information efforts.

w Social Security teachers kit -- In 1995,

SSA released a teaching aid geared

toward high school students about to

enter the work force. It consists of an

overview of the Social Security program,

five lesson options, a video tape, fact

sheets, and student handouts. Materials

in the kit, other than the video, are

available on SSAs Internet server.

w Social Security Today newsletter --

This newsletter is sent to groups and

organizations around the country whose

membership have an interest in SSAs

programs. It provides general

information about the programs and

current program issues.

w SSAs satellite broadcasts -- SSA uses

satellite broadcasts to transmit live,

interactive instructional programs to SSA

staff across the country. Last year, SSA

began producing and broadcasting

programs to outside audiences, including

employers who are linked to satellite

networks. In late 1996, SSA aired

Planning for Tomorrow, a program for

employers and employees on financial

planning.
25

w Liaison activities -- The Office of

Communications has an external affairs

staff that works closely with

organizations whose members have a

strong interest in SSAs programs. This

staff uses materials produced by the

Office of Communications in working

with these organizations, including

informational exhibits for meetings or

conferences sponsored by these

organizations.

w Tools for SSA employees -- The Office

of Communications prepares talking

points and discussion papers for use by

SSA employees on issues related to

public understanding. It also has

produced a series of slides and

transparencies that employees,

particularly field office employees, can

use when making public presentations.

Personal Earnings and Benefit

Estimate Statement (PEBES)

In 1985 SSA began to develop an

individualized statement that could provide

earnings and benefit information to workers.

Its purpose was to let individuals know how

many quarters of Social Security coverage

they had earned; make the public more

aware of the full range of Social Security

benefits available; and provide estimates of

the amount of Social Security retirement

benefits the individual would receive at ages

62 and 65. Later, as the project evolved, it

was decided to also include age 70 benefit

estimates. Prior to sending out the new

Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate

Statement (PEBES), SSA provided a

summary of earnings statement at the

publics request; however, the document

gave only general information and was often

difficult to understand. In 1988, SSA made

the PEBES available to the public on a

request basis.

An amendment to the Omnibus Budget

Reconciliation Act of 1989 (which was

further amended in 1990) required SSA to

send the statements to individuals age 25 and

older who have Social Security numbers and

earnings (either wages or self-employment);

are not receiving Social Security benefits;

and have a determinable mailing address.

The legislation stipulated how SSA should

phase-in the PEBES mailings. By the year

2000, the form must be mailed annually to

all workers age 25 and over. It is estimated

that the PEBES will go to about 120 million

individuals in the year 2000.

The PEBES project has been a major

undertaking for SSA. The primary problems

that have been encountered have been

obtaining addresses for workers (SSA only

maintains addresses for its beneficiaries);

developing a computer program to gather all

of the requisite information; and printing and

mailing the millions of statements. SSA

addressed these problems by securing

available address information from the IRS,

upgrading its computer systems, and

contracting with an outside vendor to print

and mail the documents.

In February 1995, the first automated

statements were mailed to members of the

public age 60 and older. Approximately

7 million statements were mailed. An

additional 5.5 million statements were mailed

in fiscal year 1996 to those born in the years

1936-1938. Plans are to mail 10 million

statements in fiscal year 1997 to those born

in the years 1939-1944.

SSA has established a workgroup that is

responsible for reviewing and recommending

changes to the PEBES. It is anticipated that

the group will address problems recently

cited by the General Accounting Office,

including a dense and hard-to-follow format

and hard-to-understand language and

explanations. The workgroup has developed
 26

four prototypes of a new PEBES, which

will be tested over the next few months. The

workgroup plans to have recommendations

for SSAs executive staff by early 1998.

SSA has been successful in obtaining 85-

90 percent of the address information it

needs. According to SSA, the accuracy of

the addresses remains a problem, however,

because IRS does not have in its computer

system the addresses of people who have

moved, and foreign addresses are difficult to

obtain.

Electronic Services

SSA is examining various aspects of

electronic service delivery, including World

Wide Web services, electronic kiosks, and

electronic wage reporting. SSAs Electronic

Services Staff is working with

representatives throughout the agency to

conceive and develop new ways for the

public to access Social Security information.

To keep pace with emerging technology,

SSA has joined CommerceNet, a consortium

of public and private organizations interested

in electronic services. CommerceNet, in

cooperation with Nielsen, is conducting a

demographic study on Internet usage. SSA is

interested in this study since the results will

help the agency tailor its electronic services.

SSA maintains a site on the World Wide

Web (http://www.ssa.gov) that offers

information about Social Security. Program

managers throughout the agency -- especially

the Office of Communications -- supply

information to the site. SSA estimates that,

between May 1994 and July 1997, there

were approximately 1.7 million hits to the

site.

Internet users can make requests online

for a PEBES form. SSA completes and

mails the forms to the person making the

request. SSA recently held a series of public

forums to explore the privacy issues related

to providing PEBES statements online. A

report on the privacy issues was released by

SSA in early September.
27

VI. SUPPLEMENTAL VIEWS

Social Security, Information, and Public Understanding

Carolyn L. Weaver, Ph.D.

Social Security is the largest federal program in the United States, paying monthly benefits to 44

million Americans and collecting taxes from over 145 million Americans who hope to collect benefits one

day. It is the primary source of income for many elderly people, and, for many workers, it imposes a

heavier tax burden than the federal income tax.

If for no reason other than the sheer size of Social Security, the Social Security Administration has an

awesome responsibility in a representative democracy such as ours -- that of providing information to the

public about the benefits, the costs, and the finances of the programs it administers that is concise,

understandable, and, above all, correct. Armed with this kind of information, individuals can make

reasonably well-informed judgements about necessary or desirable changes in the programs and, equally

important, about necessary or desirable changes in their own financial affairs, such as how much to save,

what kind and how much insurance to buy, how much risk to take on in their pensions or other

investments, and when to retire.

From this perspective, I am in agreement with the spirit of the discussion and recommendations

contained in this report.

Unfortunately, the incentives are weak for large public agencies to provide correct -- meaning

objective and unbiased -- information on the costs and benefits of the programs they administer. In

addition, the ability of large public agencies to provide concise and useful information is hampered by the

sheer complexity of the programs being administered, although here too the incentives to reveal the

complexities appear weak.

For these reasons, it is incumbent on the Social Security Advisory Board, as an independent body, to

be vigilant in its efforts to ensure the integrity and the value of the information being provided to the public

by the Social Security Administration. While this report is a step in that direction, it is, in my view,

deficient.

Consider, for example, one of SSAs largest public information initiatives, the Personal Earnings and

Benefit Statement (referred to as the PEBES). This is a simple document containing individualized

information on a workers past earnings and estimated taxes and his or her projected benefits at retirement

or in the event of death or disability. Since 1995, a PEBES has been mailed to about 20 million older

people. Under the law, by the year 2000, a PEBES must be mailed annually to all workers age 25 and

older -- approximately 120 million people in the first year. The budget cost of these statements, now about

$8 million annually, is projected to rise to about $80 million annually in FY 2000. At this price (which is not

by any means inclusive), the American public should get real value. What it is likely to get is an

overstatement of the benefits of Social Security and little useful information about its cost.

One clear weakness of the PEBES is that it contains incomplete information on the tax cost of Social

Security. For example, the statement includes a column entitled estimated taxes you paid, but shows

only one-half of the Social Security tax -- the half paid directly by workers through payroll tax deductions
(designated the employees share of the tax), but not the half paid indirectly through adjustments in the

wages they receive (designated the employers share).(1) Whether or not one accepts the view --

widely shared by economists -- that workers bear the full payroll tax, not just the half designated the

employees share, it is impossible to present a complete picture of the cost of Social Security benefits, and

ultimately the net value of Social Security, while presenting only partial information on taxes.

 In addition, the PEBES shows workers their estimated future benefits but completely ignores their

estimated future taxes.(2) If the idea is to inform people about the value of Social Security, which is one of

the stated purposes of the PEBES, and to provide balanced information on costs and benefits, which

should be an obligation of SSAs, I can think of no reason not to project taxes and benefits.(3)

Reflecting his concern about the absence of information on estimated future taxes, Tom Jones,

President of TIAA-CREF, commented as early as 1994:

Im not a lawyer, but my hunch is that if my company were to send out a statement

that indicated what this appears to say, that you are going to get an $18,000 a year benefit

from me and youve paid $22,000 for it, and I dont say anything else about how much

more you have yet to pay, I suspect that the SEC and other regulators would be shutting

us down.(4)

Another clear weakness of the PEBES is that it fails to acknowledge that Social Security benefits are

significantly underfinanced in future decades. Under the Social Security Board of Trustees intermediate

or best guess assumptions, the reserve funds will be exhausted by the year 2030 and only about threequarters of benefits can be paid at that time with the revenues that will be flowing into the system. Less

can be paid in later years. (The proportions are even more unfavorable if it is assumed that benefits are

continued in full for those already on the rolls.) The PEBES nevertheless shows full benefit amounts for

all workers, including those retiring decades in the future.

Nowhere in the PEBES is the long-range funding gap acknowledged, not even by way of a footnote.(5)

(2) Benefit estimates are based on two key assumptions: first, that present law will prevail in future decades, and second, that the

individual will continue working, on a continuous basis, at current earnings. Given these assumptions, the calculation of estimated

taxes is entirely straightforward.

(3) In the law requiring SSA to produce the PEBES, Congress spelled out that SSA must show the employees earnings, the

employees share of payroll taxes to date, and his or her estimated future benefits. SSA is not required to show the employers

share of the tax or projected future taxes and, as discussed below, is not required to acknowledge the inadequacy of financing in

future decades. SSA has chosen not to exercise its authority to provide this additional information and has not, to my knowledge,

made known a concern about its absence.

(4) Transcript of proceedings of the 1994-1996 Advisory Council on Social Security, public meeting of November 18, 1994,

p. 215.

(5) It is worth noting that SSA finds the space to acknowledge that benefits may be lower than shown due to early retirement,

continued work while drawing benefits, limitations on total family benefits, and the receipt of certain other pensions.

28

(1) The statement also shows the total estimated Social Security taxes paid, which, apart from excluding the employers share

of the tax, ignores the time value of money. All annual figures and the total accumulated figure are expressed in current or nominal

dollars, without any adjustment for -- or even a footnote acknowledging -- the much higher real value of taxes paid in decades

past.

__________
In my view, SSAs failure to acknowledge that posted benefits for younger workers can not, under

present law and projections, be met -- and that benefits for middle-aged and older workers can not be met

on a sustained basis(6) -- is a clear abrogation of its responsibility to provide objective and useful

information to the public. The widespread availability of inflated benefit estimates (and the absence of any

projected tax information) undermines prudent personal as well as public decision-making. Long-range

reforms almost certainly will involve reductions in future benefits and these reforms are likely to be all the

more difficult to achieve -- and to sustain -- because of the confusion that will have been created by the

PEBES. This confusion can only be compounded by materials now being distributed by SSA reporting that

younger workers will recoup in benefits the full value of the taxes they pay (accumulated with interest) up

to a decade before their deaths -- despite the fact that revenues are projected to be inadequate to pay their

benefits.(7)

On a smaller scale, consider the packet of materials prepared for distribution to high school teachers

throughout the nation, which includes a video for students entitled (immodestly) Social Security: The Real

Story. The video is intended to educate young people about, and to broaden their understanding of, Social

Security, which is perfectly appropriate. However, in enlightening students about Social Security, the video

stresses the non-retirement programs -- disability and survivor benefits, in particular -- while failing to

acknowledge that complex and sometime stringent eligibility requirements must be met to qualify for

benefits under these programs; it makes no effort to educate students about the cost of Social Security;

and it devotes precious little time (perhaps 2 minutes out of 25) to the serious long-range financing

problems confronting the system. This is remarkable when one recognizes that the retirement program

consumes the lions share of Social Security taxes and is projected to be insolvent well before these

students reach their sixties. A typical high school student, age 17 today, will reach the age of eligibility for

full retirement benefits (which is 67 under current law) one-half century from now, or nearly two decades

after the trust funds are projected to be exhausted. The disability program faces much more immediate

financing problems.

Consider the treatment of the financing problem. In the final minutes of the video, a student (wisely)

asks her high school teacher So, whats the bottom line? Her teacher responds, There is no bottom

line. No bottom line! While some people may believe this to be true, it is an odd position for SSA to be

__________

(6) According to actuarial projections, one-half or more of the baby-boom generation will still be alive in 2030.

(7) The suggestion that young workers will receive more than the actuarial value of taxes paid is inconsistent with the research

findings of numerous outside scholars as well as with SSAs own internal research (as developed in the Office of Research and

Statistics and disseminated by the Office of the Actuary to the 1994-1996 Advisory Council on Social Security).

For an example of this kind of material, whose purpose, it would appear, is public relations not public information, see The

Full Value of Social Security, Letter to the Editor, The Washington Post (June 3, 1997), p. A18, by John J. Callahan, Acting

Commissioner of SSA.

29

As a point of reference, it is worth noting that the statements sent to todays 34-year olds show full

projected benefits for retirement at 67, which for them is the year 2030. The statements sent to younger

workers, those now in their mid-twenties, show full benefits in the year 2040 and later. While some might say

that benefits are fixed in the law and that taxes can always be raised, taxes are equally fixed in the law.

The reality is that both the benefit formula and the tax rate are specified in the law and both can and will be

changed. There are two sides of the equation and they do not add up.
There is no doubt that many people receive valuable benefits from the Social Security disability and

survivor programs. It is also true, however, that many workers who become disabled, as this word is

conventionally understood, and many women who become widowed receive nothing at all -- or at least

nothing at all when they need it most.

A striking -- and, to me, worrisome -- aspect of Social Security is its extreme complexity. If SSA

seeks to promote public understanding and to better equip people for sound personal financial planning, it

must place a higher priority on informing people about restrictions on benefit eligibility.

Unlike with a conventional life insurance policy, for example, where a man knows that his wife will

receive a stated sum of money in the event of his death, there is no pay-out to a surviving spouse under

Social Security survivors insurance until or unless she: (1) is in her fifties and severely disabled, (2) is in

her sixties, or (3) has in her care one of his young (i.e., under age 16) children. God forbid that she is an

ordinary housewife who has spent a lifetime caring for her family, has just gotten her kids off to college,

and now finds herself widowed with no good employment opportunities. (Benefits are payable to children,

but only if they are under the age of 18 (or 19 if still in high school).) Even if she is 60, there is a

permanent reduction in benefits if she wishes to begin drawing benefits rather than waiting until age 62.

For the widow who works or must return to work, benefits are reduced and may be eliminated altogether

on account of earnings.

As for disability protection, it is vitally important for people to know that they must be severely

disabled to receive any benefits at all. There is no partial or temporary disability coverage under Social

Security. And disability benefits are not payable for the first 5 months after the onset of disability. Finally,

there is no disability protection at all for young or middle-aged women (or men) who do not have a

substantial and recent work record of their own.

A true education program would provide information about these aspects of the disability and survivor

programs right along with information about potential benefits. Absent this information, workers can not--

short of turning to alternative sources of information -- assess the value of these programs or the need for

supplemental protection.

Finally, whether intentionally or not, the video goes beyond its stated purposes to create doubts

about -- if not to undermine support for -- various kinds of reform of the Social Security system. This is

not done directly, by confronting alternative arrangements and providing a balanced discussion of their

costs and benefits, but indirectly and by the inference of a false alternative -- that of abandoning Social

30

Or consider the treatment of the disability and survivor programs. As is the case with some other

materials distributed by SSA, the benefit protections afforded by these programs is stressed while

information about eligibility requirements, which is critical for assessing the value of these programs and

the need for supplemental protection, is glaringly absent.

promoting in a video issued by the federal government and paid for by the taxes of American workers.

There is no mention of the fact that the program is trust-fund financed and must have monies on hand in

order to pay benefits; no mention of the fact that the Commissioner of SSA is one of six Trustees of the

Social Security trust funds which issues a report each year on the financial well-being of the system; no

mention of the fact that for over a decade the Trustees have warned of a significant and growing longrange deficit; and no mention of the fact that Social Security is projected to be insolvent when these

students retire.
Suffice it to say that there is no public discussion of abolishing Social Security. There are no reform

proposals that would eliminate benefits for senior citizens, for people with disabilities, or for kids who have

lost their parents or elderly women who have lost their husbands. There are no reform proposals that

would discontinue mandatory, periodic contributions by workers to fund retirement savings or disability or

survivor insurance. What there are -- and in growing numbers -- are proposals that would change the way

Social Security is provided for younger workers. In the case of the retirement program, there is growing

interest in moving toward a system in which workers would invest a portion of their taxes in their own,

fully-funded retirement saving accounts. A proposal such as this is contained in the Final Report of the

1994-1996 Advisory Council on Social Security.(8) These proposals bear no resemblance to the false

alternative implicit in SSAs video.(9)

If we are to judge from much of the public discourse on smoking and advertising, Americas teens

have impressionable young minds. SSA bears a special obligation to provide unbiased (unfiltered, if you

will) information to this population.

A candid evaluation of world-wide developments suggests that a fundamentally important debate about

the future of Social Security is unfolding. Whether SSA is part of that debate or not will be determined in

no small measure by whether it is perceived by the public to be a good source of information. If it is not,

the public will simply turn elsewhere -- to employers, pension funds, banks and other financial institutions,

to friends and family, to the news media, to the Internet, or to any of a number of emerging sources of

information on financial planning.

New survey results released by the Democratic Leadership Council reveal the breadth of interest in

reforms that would transform the Social Security retirement program into a system of true retirement

saving. The DLC reports that in a survey of 1,000 registered voters, 75 percent (including 73 percent of

__________

(8) See Final Report of the 1994-1996 Advisory Council on Social Security (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,

1997), pp. 30-34 and 102-134. This proposal, which would gradually replace half of the retirement program with personal

retirement accounts and convert the other half of the program to a flat benefit for full-career workers, was endorsed by 5 out of 13

members of the Advisory Council. This council was appointed under the law by the Secretary of Health and Human Services

Donna Shalala and was chaired by University of Michigan economist Edward Gramlich, Federal Reserve Board nominee.

31

(9) In citing poll results showing support for continuing Social Security, the Boards current report can be faulted for much the same

reason. It implicitly suggests that there is consideration being given to eliminating Social Security, when there is not, and that people

would oppose a new kind of Social Security system in future decades, which is inconsistent with numerous public opinion surveys.

Security. Disgruntled students carry signs saying BAN SOCIAL SECURITY! Words like abolish and

destroy are bandied about. Says one student Were just trying to get rid of Social Security. Thats all.

These hapless students are then confronted with reality: a pleasant middle-aged man in a wheelchair (seemingly the prototype of a person with a disability for PR purposes these days) who didnt know how he would

have supported himself after his disability -- Social Security came through for me; an attractive female

student who had lost her dad -- Social Security helps me get by; and finally grandpa, who recalls the Great

Depression, in the days before Social Security, when his mother would rise at 3:00 a.m. to bake cookies for his

father to sell on the streets just to make ends meet. And finally, they are confronted by a teacher who asks

how disability and survivor benefits -- even Medicare -- would be replaced if Social Security were abolished.
Unbiased information and, beyond that, truly valuable information -- including, information on

alternative financial arrangements that reflect the many innovations and developments in private financial

markets in recent years -- arises most quickly, most predictably, and most effectively in a competitive

environment. For reasons having little to do with SSA (such as the maturing of our pay-as-you-go Social

Security system and the inevitable decline in implicit rates of return on workers taxes, the explosion of

401(k) plans and other self-directed retirement savings plans, and the aging of the baby-boom generation),

there is now a vibrant private sector competing head-on in the provision of retirement income, with

benefits redounding to society as a whole. Competition in information will flow naturally from this

competition in supply, promoting better decisions and ultimately higher standards of living.(11)

(11) Since this report is, I believe, insufficiently precise on the issue of enhancing public understanding, public support, and

public confidence, I would note that my concern is with promoting public understanding with an eye toward facilitating more

efficient decision-making. Information that underpins public understanding can be promoted in big ways and in small. In regard

to the former, I see competition as the key. In regard to the latter, the Boards first report, entitled Developing Social Security

Policy: How the Social Security Administration Can Provide Greater Policy Leadership (Washington, D.C.: Social Security

Advisory Board, 1997), urged SSA to make its data more generally available to outside scholars and researchers, which would

facilitate research and thereby contribute indirectly to improving our knowledge about a wide range of retirement and disability

related issues. The Board also stated its intention to study the limitations that now exist on access by outside researchers to

SSAs data, methods, and assumptions, including legal, resource, and other limitations (p.11). A broader recommendation was

made by the Social Security Advisory Council in its final report (p. 22), which urged SSA to grant private researchers greater

access to agency data as well as to the economic and actuarial models used in forecasting and analysis. I wholeheartedly support

these recommendations. Participants at a conference convened by the Board on June 24, 1997, entitled Forum on a Long-Range

Research and Program Evaluation Plan for the Social Security Administration, underscored the importance of SSA becoming more

user friendly to the research community. A summary of the proceedings of this conference will be published by the Social

Security Advisory Board this fall.

32

__________

While the depth of support for, or the level of knowledge about, these proposals can not be known

from this or any other survey, it is clear that the American public is open to rethinking the way Social

Security is structured for the decades ahead. SSA will remain on the sidelines of the debate if it fails to

provide information to the American public about the range of options for reforming Social Security to

meet the realities and the opportunities of the twenty-first century.

In the end, ensuring that the millions of Americans who pay for and/or receive Social Security benefits

receive the information they need will take more than the admonitions of this Board or any of its members.

It will take more than good intentions and vigilance on the part of SSAs commissioners and even of

Congress and the Administration. There is only so much SSA can and will do.

(10) DLC Poll Shows Democrats Marching to the Vital Center, DLC News Release, Aug. 6, 1997.

Democrats -- traditionally a solid base of support for the status quo) supported allowing employees to put 2

percentage points of the Social Security tax into private retirement funds; 72 percent (including 71 percent

of Democrats) supported creating a two-tier system which would provide a basic retirement benefit for all

low and middle income retirees and would be supplemented by individually-controlled private savings; and

a remarkable 55 percent (including 48 percent of Democrats) supported gradually requiring Americans to

save for their own retirement by shifting all of the retirement portion of the payroll tax into individuallycontrolled personal savings accounts.(10)
We are pleased that Increasing Public Understanding of Social Security is being issued with the

unanimous vote of the Advisory Board. The report responds to a specific charge given by Congress on an

important topic.

In light of the supplemental statement authored by our colleague, Carolyn Weaver, we believe a few

words on the nature and scope of the report would be appropriate.

The report attempts to assess in the most general terms the current communications programs of the

Social Security Administration and to offer broad recommendations for how the agency could better

enhance public understanding. We do so with the convictions that the agency has a responsibility to help

the public participate in a much-needed national debate on retirement income issues and that, in some

basic ways, the agency is not meeting that responsibility.

This report does not attempt to provide a detailed analysis or critique of the agencys operations. Nor

does it try to prescribe the content of the information the agency should make available, other than to

stress the importance of balanced information. Instead, we purposely concentrate here on the basic

principles and objectives of the agencys communications program.

Lastly, we purposely excluded from the report any consideration of whether Social Security should be

substantially restructured, even though individual Board members may hold strong views on this topic that

reflect the range of opinions in the current policy debate. We do not believe this report to be the time and

place for the Board to comment on the separate issue of long-term financing and the many options

available to meet the additional needs placed on Social Security by the aging of our population and

improvements in longevity.

Additional Views

of

Lori Hansen, Martha Keys, and Gerald Shea

33