The Social Security crunch begins

The first baby boomer has applied for Social Security benefits, launching a retirement wave that economists warn could overwhelm the system. The "fairest" fix would be a combination of tax increases and benefit cuts, said Lita Epstein on Bloggin

What happened

The first baby boomer applied for Social Security benefits this week, launching a retirement wave that economists warn could overwhelm the system. Kathleen Casey-Kirschling turns 62 one second after midnight on Jan. 1, making her the first of 80 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 to reach the system’s age for early retirement. At the end of World War II, there were 44 workers paying for each retiree; now there are three, and soon there will be more retirees than workers. “If this were a movie,” said David John, an economist from the Heritage Foundation, said, “this is when the scary music would start.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us