A recent poll by Morning Consult/Bloomberg has revealed that more than half of Americans in swing states support reducing benefits for higher-income Social Security recipients to extend the program’s solvency. When asked whether or not they support trimming benefits for higher-income recipients to extend the life of Social Security, 28 percent responded by saying that they “strongly support” that move and 29 percent said they “somewhat support,” bringing the total of supportive respondents to 57 percent.
The poll was conducted between April 8-15 and surveyed close to 5,000 registered voters in key swing states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. It is important to note that the poll did not specify what income level the voters considered high income.
The poll results come at a time when experts are warning that Social Security’s trust fund could be depleted in about a decade, which may lead to reduced payments to retirees. In response to this concern, the poll also asked respondents about other potential solutions to extend the life of the Social Security program.
When asked about raising the retirement age—even by a couple of years—66 percent of respondents opposed the move. Similarly, only 35 percent supported increasing the payroll tax rate from 6.2 percent to 7.75 percent, while 50 percent opposed it.
However, a majority of respondents (77 percent) supported raising taxes on billionaires, and 64 percent said they supported collecting Social Security tax on wages “beyond just the first $168,600.”
These poll results suggest that Americans are divided on the best way to address the challenges facing Social Security. While a majority support reducing benefits for wealthier recipients, there is less consensus on other potential solutions, such as raising the retirement age or increasing the payroll tax rate.
