July 1, 2007
Wilhelmina A. Leigh, Ph.D.
Danielle Huff
The Old Age, Survivors, and Disability (OASDI) program of the Social Security Administration helps meet the needs of persons who have retired (Old Age), dependents of persons who are deceased (Survivors), and persons who have become disabled, as well as their dependents (Disability). Although the Social Security system consists of these three components, when system reforms are discussed, the...
April 1, 2007
Wilhelmina A. Leigh, Ph.D.
Danielle Huff
Between 1997 and 2005, numerous polls were conducted to assess the views of the U.S. population about savings behavior, expected sources of retirement income, and the status of the Social Security system. This report examines findings from these polls for African Americans, white Americans, and persons of all races (combined) and makes comparisons across racial/ethnic groups as data allow. The...
June 1, 2006
Wilhelmina A. Leigh, Ph.D.
Danielle Huff
Income is the personal characteristic most often thought to be associated with differences in knowledge, expectations, and opinions about Social Security and wealth. For example, one would hypothesize that individuals with low incomes would be more likely than those with high incomes to (1) expect Social Security to be their major source of retirement income, (2) be less likely to own stocks or...
June 1, 2006
Wilhelmina A. Leigh, Ph.D.
Danielle Huff
Well-publicized and much-discussed potential insolvency of the Social Security Trust Fund concerns African Americans ages 51-64 much more than it does younger African Americans. is may be tied to the fact that many 51- to 64-year-olds have not accumulated adequate personal savings and investments and expect to rely upon Social Security as a major source of retirement income. About one-third (35...
June 1, 2006
Wilhelmina A. Leigh, Ph.D.
Danielle Huff
Half of African Americans ages 18-25 consider themselves to be well-informed about the Social Security system. When compared to their older counterparts, however, these youngest African American adults have more correct information about the big-picture impacts of the Social Security system than about various details of the system's operations, e.g., age(s) at which one becomes eligible, how...
June 1, 2006
Wilhelmina A. Leigh, Ph.D.
Danielle Huff
African American women share with other women and with African American men characteristics that shape their beneficiary status under the Social Security system, as well as their views of the retirement income program. Like other women, African American women live more years than African American men and thus receive retirement benefits from Social Security for a longer period than their male...