It is also about the young and, more poignantly, about racial inequity in America. Virtually all workers now pay into, and are eligible for, Old-Age Insurance. Even though Social Security is available to everyone, the system continues to perpetuate racial, class and gender disparities, but in a somewhat disguised form. No Social Security taxes at all are paid on income above that level. Once they retire, poorer folk get smaller monthly payouts than their affluent counterparts.
People of color have lower incomes than whites.
They thus put fewer total dollars into the system and receive lower benefits when they retire. Also, people of color receive these benefits for a significantly shorter amount of time than whites because they retire older and die younger. Many people of color die before ever receiving Social Security benefits, even though they've paid taxes into the system throughout their lives. Notwithstanding these systemic inequities, Social Security represents the most important source of retirement income for most people of color. Because people of color have far fewer assets than whites and are much less likely to be covered by private pension programs, they tend to be more dependent on Social Security at retirement.