Reengineering Social Security in the New Economy , by Thomas F. Siems, January 23, 2001. The Wall Street Journal has reported that the AFL-CIO's own poll results show that 60 percent of union members favor putting a portion of their Social Security tax into individual accounts. That finding may have surprised union bosses, who vigorously oppose such worker empowerment, but it didn't surprise Social Security reformers. In fact, dozens of nationwide surveys show that most Americans believe they should be able to save and invest their FICA taxes in personal retirement accounts. Consistent with that view, few workers support alternative reform proposals such as raising payroll taxes, cutting benefits or allowing the federal government to invest the trust fund.
Results seem consistent across gender, income level and political affiliation.
Some survey questions and responses follow. Q. I'm going to read some proposals that have been made for changes in the Social Security system. R. Seventy-four percent favor letting workers invest. R. Seventy-two percent of Democrats and 76 percent of all people polled support making it easier for workers to invest a portion of their payroll taxes in personal savings accounts. R. Sixty-six percent favor that option.