Why Is Social Security Important?
Social Security, SSI - Suplemental Security Income Sep 21, 2022
Social Security provides workers with a foundation of income that they can use to plan for their retirement. It also helps protect people who become disabled and those whose breadwinner dies by providing valuable social insurance.
Let’s get into why is social security important.
Eighty-six years after President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935, that legislation remains a cornerstone of American society and benefits millions of Americans.
Social security has several benefits to the people of the USA, from children, the old, women, and even same-sex spouses. Here are some reasons answering why is social security important.
Social Security Administers Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Program
Social security is important because it administers the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which helps low-income people aged 65 or older, blind or disabled. It also administers the Disability Insurance (DI) program, which provides cash benefits to disabled workers and their dependents until they reach age 62 or become eligible for Medicare health insurance coverage.
It Offers Survivor Benefits
If you die, your spouse may be eligible for survivor benefits from Social Security. These include a monthly check that increases depending on how many dependents you have and whether you’re receiving disability benefits.
Your surviving spouse can also receive health insurance coverage through Medicare at age 65 with no penalty if they were married for at least 10 years before death or by age 62 if permanently disabled.
Social Security Is a Lifeline for Most Retirees
Social security is essential for many seniors in the United States because it is all they have to live on during retirement. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), about half of senior citizens rely on Social Security for at least half of their monthly income. The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance provides monthly benefits to retirees, their spouses, and children, while the DI offers monthly benefits to people who are disabled and meet certain criteria. Both programs pay benefits based on lifetime earnings.
Social Security Is Especially Beneficial for Women
Now the question is why is social security important for women?
The answer is pretty straight, Social Security also offers financial protection against some of the risks unique to women: among other things, it pays survivors benefits to widows and their children when the family breadwinner dies and disability benefits to people who become disabled before they reach retirement age.
Women rely on Social Security more than men do because women earn less, take longer breaks from the paid workforce, live longer and accumulate fewer savings than men; additionally, women receive smaller pensions.
Women are disproportionately helped by the program’s inflation-protected benefits, advanced formula for computing benefits, and spousal/survivor features.
Children Have an Important Stake in Social Security
This is because it provides them income, health insurance, and other benefits if their parents become disabled or die before they reach age 18. Social security is important to children. Without these protections, children might be forced into poverty if their parents were unable to work due to illness or injury, unemployment, or death.
It’s an Insurance Policy Against Poverty in Old Age
Social Security provides financial protection against poverty for elderly Americans who can no longer work because they’ve become too sick or disabled, or retired. Without this protection, many older Americans would be forced to live on meager incomes from savings accounts or pensions that don’t provide enough money to cover basic living expenses like food and rent.
Types of Social Security Benefits
Now that you’ve got the answer to ‘Why is social security important‘, try and understand the different types of benefits:
Social Security Retirement Benefits
The Social Security Administration (SSA) provides retirement benefits to workers and their families. These benefits are based partly on an individual’s wages that were covered by Social Security taxes while working. To receive these social security benefits, individuals must qualify based on age and work history requirements. If you are disabled and cannot work, you may be eligible for disability benefits from SSA.
Social Security Disability Benefits
The SSA provides disability insurance (DI) benefits to disabled workers and their families when they become unable to work due to a medical condition that is expected to last at least 12 months or result in death. To qualify for DI benefits, you must have worked long enough under Social Security coverage and have had enough earnings for SSA to consider you insured for disability purposes.
Social Security Dependents Benefits
The SSA provides dependent insurance (DIB) benefits to eligible family members of insured individuals who have died or become disabled before becoming eligible for retirement benefits at age 62 or older; a child younger than age 16 or a student aged 16-19 who is not yet 22 if they have been disabled since before age 22 and still needed care at the time of death.
Social Security Survivors Benefits
The Social Security Administration provides benefits to spouses, children, parents, and other dependents of workers who have died. These include monthly benefits for Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI). You could get these benefits if you were married for at least nine months to someone who worked long enough to qualify for Social Security retirement or disability benefits. Suppose you are applying for survivor’s benefits as the surviving spouse of a worker who completed at least half of their work credits in a year. In that case, you may be eligible for reduced benefits based on your earnings record.
Same-Sex Spouse’s Eligibility for Social Security Benefits
The Social Security Administration allows surviving members of same-sex relationships to collect survivors’ benefits if the couple was prevented from marrying (or didn’t meet the nine-month marriage requirement) due to discriminatory state laws.
If your gay spouse died before or shortly after same-sex marriage became legal in your state, you might be eligible to receive Social Security benefits.
Conclusion On Why Is Social Security Important
The social security program has, without a doubt, been of significant importance in the united states. This program has ensured that the citizens have a way to survive, whether it’s through death, divorce, or old age.
The Social Security Administration announces cost of living adjustments each year in late fall, and the increase for 2023 is estimated to be 8.7%. This adjustment is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures fluctuations in the prices of goods and services such as food and housing. The purpose of the COLA is to ensure your purchasing power isn’t diminished by inflation as costs rise over time.
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