Labor & Employment Law

Social Security: Hands Across Generations

By Mike Hall

In Oakland, Calif., yesterday, hands reached across generations in the fight to strengthen Social Security for young and senior alike.

At the Laney College campus, 100 California Alliance for Retired Americans were joined by students for a lunchtime rally and discussion of Social Security and its importance for future generations.

The Alliance members spoke with students one on one. Many students they were not aware of the fight brewing over Social Security cuts. Alliance members also encouraged the students to sign petitions to secure Social Security from the privatization and other threats.

At the rally on the campus Commons, Alliance members detailed the current threats to Social Security?including expected proposals from the federal budget deficit commission to raise the retirement age and other cuts. They also encouraged students to get involved to preserve Social Security.

For more on Social Security and young workers, click here.

This week, Retirement USA, a coalition that includes the AFL-CIO, takes a look at the retirement security problems facing older workers as their near retirement, including lack of traditional pensions, devastated 401(k) retirement accounts and for many, long stretches of unemployment during the past several years of economic turmoil. In a blog post, the group says:

Given these facts, it is likely that Social Security will remain the backbone of retirement security for today?s older workers as it is for today?s retirees.  For all but the 20 percent highest-income older Americans, Social Security is the largest single source of income, yet the average monthly retired worker benefit in August 2010 was $1,172 or roughly $14,000 annually. And the benefit is expected to fall, as the normal retirement age rises to age 67.

Click here for more.

Retirement USA has just concluded its  ?Wake Up, Washington? Month to encourage people from across the country to tell lawmakers to keep their hands off of Social Security and to fix our patchwork private retirement.

Don?t forget to visit the online Story Bank where people share their personal stories, fears and concerns about retirement security.  Click here to visit and here to add your story.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on October 14, 2010 (boomark / email).