Brief How Would Joe Biden Reform Social Security and Supplemental Security Income?
Karen E. Smith, Richard W. Johnson, Melissa M. Favreault
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Joe Biden has proposed increasing Social Security revenue, enhancing Social Security benefits, and expanding Supplemental Security Income, a program that provides cash benefits to low-income older adults and people with disabilities. Our projections show that his proposals would lift more than 1 million people out of poverty in 2021 and cut the poverty rate for adult Social Security beneficiaries over the coming decades by more than half. We project that by extending the Social Security payroll tax to earnings above $400,000, his plan would close about a quarter of the program’s long-term funding deficit and extend the life of the trust funds by about five years.

Research Areas Aging and retirement Taxes and budgets Disability equity policy
Tags Social Security Economic well-being Disabilities and employment Federal budget and economy Retirement policy Campaigns, proposals, and reforms Federal tax issues and reform proposals
Policy Centers Income and Benefits Policy Center
Research Methods Dynamic Simulation of Income Model 4 (DYNASIM4)