Blacks Urged To Become Involved In The Debate Over Social Security

African Americans are being urged to take an active role in the debate over the future of Social Security, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank for black-elected officials, said Monday.

“African Americans are far more reliant on the Social Security program than they realize,” according to the Joint Center’s report, African Americans and Social Security: A Primer. 

The report, which is available for free by downloading it on the Joint Center’s website www.jointcenter.org  seeks to dispel the belief that blacks do not benefit from Social Security because of their shorter life expectancy. The report found that African Americans benefit in many other areas, although they are less likely than whites to receive retirement benefits.

Member of Congress have been seeking a consensus with respect to an overhaul of Social Security to keep the program solvent. Projections show that Social Security will need small infusions of cash within the next decade without changes to the benefit structure.

The Joint Center said its report is intended to provide a basis for discussion as Congress considers changes to the retirement, disability and survivor benefits programs as a means of addressing the nation’s economic problems.

“Conversations about modifying the Social Security system must include voices of African Americans and other racial/ethnic subpopulations whose dependence on the system is great but whose patterns of usage may differ from the norm,” the Joint Center wrote.

AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, a Washington, D.C-based nonprofit, nonpartisan organization for people 50 years old and older, commissioned the primer. Dr. Wilhelmina A. Leigh, an economist, who is senior research associate at the Joint Center, wrote the primer.
 
The primer found that Social Security is the only source of income for two out of five African-American retiree households that receive benefits.  For 28 percent of black married couples 65 years old and older, Social Security provides 90 percent or more of their income. Social Security also provides 90 percent or more of the income for 54 percent unmarried African Americans 65 years old and older.

And while African-American children are 15 percent of the nation’s children, they  comprise nearly 21 percent of children who receive Social Security disability benefits. Among Social Security beneficiaries, African Americans are more likely than whites to receive both survivor benefits and disability benefits.

“Because African Americans are more likely than whites to work in hazardous jobs, the relative frequency with which black workers receive disability benefits and with which their spouses and children receive disability and survivor benefits is greater than for white workers,” the report said.

More than one-third of African Americans expect Social Security to be a major source of retirement income, the report said. The primer found, however, that African American beneficiaries on average receive smaller monthly retirement benefits than whites.

In 2008, the average monthly Social Security retirement benefit for black men was $1,109.30; for black women, it was $945.50. The average monthly retirement benefit for white men was $1,333.80; for white women it was $1,014.50.

The report also found that African American beneficiaries are less likely than whites to receive retirement benefits because they don't live long enough to become beneficiaries at 62 years old. Blacks born in 1950 have a life expectancy of 60.8 years compared with whites who have  a life expectancy of 69.1 years.

“When we as a nation discuss ways to assure that Social Security remains a vital source of support for Americans, we must be mindful of the needs of African Americans and others who are most dependent on the system,” Leigh said.