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Showing Original Post only (View all)Gen Z would rather cut Social Security benefits for current retirees than pay higher taxes to save the program [View all]
Theres a generational divide on what that reform should entail, a new Cato Institute poll of 2,000 respondents found. Members of Generation Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, were eight times more likely than those 65 and older to say they support reducing benefits for current and future retirees to fix the programs finances 47% versus 6%, the poll found.
More than half of respondents under age 30 said younger workers should be protected from higher taxes even if it means reducing benefits for current retirees, compared to 89% of adults age 65 and older who said current retirees benefits should be protected even if it means increasing taxes for younger workers.
Cato asked participants how they would feel about various reform tactics, such as increasing taxes, in a few ways. Almost 6 in 10 people (58%) said they would favor raising income taxes, while 63% said they would favor increasing payroll taxes as much as necessary if it meant maintaining benefits. When asked if they would be willing to raise those payroll taxes from 12.4% to 16.05%, more than half (55%) said yes. But when they were asked about dollar figures, there was less support: Only 23% said they would be willing to pay $1,300 more a year in taxes to maintain benefits.
Young adults also were more likely to misunderstand how the program pays out benefits, the Cato poll found. Half of Gen Z members thought Social Security taxes were saved for them, such as in a personal account or invested in the trust fund, and just 29% knew that what they paid in taxes was used for current retirees in the pay-as-you-go system.
More than half of respondents under age 30 said younger workers should be protected from higher taxes even if it means reducing benefits for current retirees, compared to 89% of adults age 65 and older who said current retirees benefits should be protected even if it means increasing taxes for younger workers.
Cato asked participants how they would feel about various reform tactics, such as increasing taxes, in a few ways. Almost 6 in 10 people (58%) said they would favor raising income taxes, while 63% said they would favor increasing payroll taxes as much as necessary if it meant maintaining benefits. When asked if they would be willing to raise those payroll taxes from 12.4% to 16.05%, more than half (55%) said yes. But when they were asked about dollar figures, there was less support: Only 23% said they would be willing to pay $1,300 more a year in taxes to maintain benefits.
Young adults also were more likely to misunderstand how the program pays out benefits, the Cato poll found. Half of Gen Z members thought Social Security taxes were saved for them, such as in a personal account or invested in the trust fund, and just 29% knew that what they paid in taxes was used for current retirees in the pay-as-you-go system.
(Edited to add 4th paragraph instead of lead in sentence)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/retirement/gen-z-would-rather-cut-social-security-benefits-for-current-retirees-than-pay-higher-taxes-to-save-the-program/ar-AA1StpJW?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=LCTS&cvid=6947067333a84cb8a34c49bf8f4fc508&ei=24
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Gen Z would rather cut Social Security benefits for current retirees than pay higher taxes to save the program [View all]
MichMan
Dec 2025
OP
reagan doubled fica taxes "in order to fund the retirement of the bab y boomers."
rampartd
Dec 2025
#79
In the absence of any other poll stating otherwise, I took it at face value and thought others might find it interesting
MichMan
Dec 2025
#16
So you wouldn't dismiss a poll from Fox that showed Trump at 99 percent approval?
BannonsLiver
Dec 2025
#23
The source of any poll is of existential relevance, MM. It's a valid point. ❤️
littlemissmartypants
Dec 2025
#36
Even the grumps among us sometimes long for human interaction. 😉❤️
littlemissmartypants
Dec 2025
#46
It also isn't my responsibility to look for other polls until I find one that you agree with.
MichMan
Dec 2025
#95
I doubt."Make millionaires pay a small percentage more" was a choice. Probably only, YOU pay more or They get less.
dem4decades
Dec 2025
#51
Cato is right-wing, and how you ask questions can definitely influence answers, leading to the result you want.
Lonestarblue
Dec 2025
#52
And created the life that they are now waving in our faces and trying to say that we are the issue.
OldBaldy1701E
Dec 2025
#48
Welp..when I first started working, I know I used to gripe about SS, Medicare taxes I'd see on my pay stub
Deuxcents
Dec 2025
#14
So this Libertarian BS is now coming out yet again...........guess who founded this fucking "think tank".......
turbinetree
Dec 2025
#15
one suspects the younger crowd, fresh from sponging off parents, typically opposes helping seniors financially
msongs
Dec 2025
#17
Intergenerational conflict was built in. Die Broke, that will teach them. /nt
bucolic_frolic
Dec 2025
#28
When young adults do not know important facts about their lives, more people than
RockRaven
Dec 2025
#29
Why wouldnt they vote in their best interest? Boomers have done it for decades as well
Slider19
Dec 2025
#41
" There just isn't, and trying to say otherwise is, at best, wildly disingenuous."
OldBaldy1701E
Dec 2025
#69
I've found that tax increases tend to be much more popular with people as long as it is someone else paying them.
MichMan
Dec 2025
#61
I wouldn't have a problem if I could just get back all the money I paid into the system in SS taxes.
Intractable
Dec 2025
#78