Blacks Need Better Understanding Of Social Security's Value, Agency Official Says

Jet, July 26, 1999

Blacks owe it to themselves to understand the nation's Social Security program and make sure it stays intact.

Paul D. Barnes, deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration for Human Resources, has initiated a national campaign to make Blacks more aware of Social Security.

A recent poll showed that only 41 percent of Blacks are knowledgeable about Social Security. Overall, the public's understanding of Social Security is 55 percent.

Without Social Security, the poverty rate for elderly Blacks would increase from 24 percent to 62 percent, he noted. Social Security also is the only source of retirement income for 33 percent of elderly Blacks, Barnes said.

More than 140 million workers participate in the program and are eligible for Social Security benefits.

Social Security is much more than a retirement program for the elderly, Barnes explains. There is a program that pays benefits to the survivors of workers who have died. The Social Security program also provides disability insurance to disabled workers.

Though Blacks make up 12 percent of the U.S. population, 23 percent of all children who receive Social Security survivor benefits are Black, Barnes explained.

Black families disproportionately benefit from disability insurance. Eighteen percent of disabled workers receiving benefits are Black Americans.

"This is an example of what you don't know can, in fact, hurt you," Barnes noted.

"For example, if you don't Barnes know that the children of a deceased worker are eligible for a benefit, and you don't apply, that's income that is not there to stabilize a family."

The future of Social Security is in jeopardy. By the year 2034, experts predict that the program will only be able to provide 71 percent of the benefits that it now offers.

"Right now, the Congress and the president are trying to decide what to do to deal with the long-term solvency issue of Social Security," Barnes said. "Right now, we do not have a crisis in the Social Security program in terms of funding, but in the year 2034, with the aging of the baby boom generation, the amount of money in the Social Security system will only cover 71 percent of the expected expenses.

"If we don't change anything, there will only be enough money in the system to pay 71 percent of the benefits not 100 percent. That's why people need to get involved with what are the options of dealing with that."

He urged Blacks to contact their congressmen and let them know that they are concerned about the future of Social Security.