GAO
Social Security's Future
Answers to Key Questions

OVERVIEW OF GAO-15-75SP


What are the trust funds, and how do they work?
Revenue from Social Security payroll tax and other sources
[Image: Dollar bill signs with two arrows pointing to two trust funds.]

Disability Insurance (DI) trust fund
[Image: Piggy bank.]

DI beneficiaries
Individuals with disabilities, their families, and survivors
* Made up 19 percent of beneficiaries in 2014
[Image: Pie chart highlighting 19 percent.]
* $1,017 average monthly benefit (As of Jan. 2015)
[Image: Silhouette of man and woman.]


Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) trust fund
[Image: Piggy bank.]

OASI beneficiaries
Older adults, their families, and survivors
* Made up 81 percent of beneficiaries in 2014
[Image: Pie chart highlighting 81 percent.]
* $1,262 average monthly benefit (As of Jan. 2015)
[Image: Silhouette of many men and women.]


About 59 million Americans received benefits from the funds in 2014
[Image: Floating map of the continental United States.




What's causing the basic problem?
Demographic factors, including an aging population and slower growth in the U.S. labor force, are straining Social Security programs and contributing to a projected long-term gap between program costs and revenues

Older Americans (people age 65 and over) are representing a greater share of the total population
[Image: Line chart spanning 1950 to 2090, and showing the percentage of the total population. Three data points are highlighted: 8.0% in 1950, 14.7% in 2015, 22.3% in 2070.]

[Image: Full data set of line chart:"1950"
8
"1965"
8.6
"1960"
9.1
"1965"
9.3
"1970"
9.7
"1975"
10.4
"1980"
11.2
"1985"
11.8
"1990"
12.3
"1995"
12.5
"2000"
12.4
"2005"
12.3
"2010"
13
"2015"
14.7
"2020"
16.5
"2025"
18.5
"2030"
20
"2035"
20.7
"2040"
20.9
"2045"
20.8
"2050"
20.9
"2055"
21.1
"2060"
21.5
"2065"
21.8
"2070"
22.1
"2075"
22.4
"2080"
22.4
"2085"
22.7
"2090"
23.1
"1950"
8]


If policymakers do not take action, trust fund assets are projected to run out by...
* DI trust fund in 2016
* OASI trust fund in 2035
[Image: Two side-by-side calendars.]

What options do policymakers have for addressing Social Security's financial challenges?
To shore up the DI trust fund in the short term, policymakers could enact legislation to...

Send a greater share of payroll tax revenues to the DI trust fund 
[Image: Dollar bill sign pointing into a piggy bank labeled with 'DI']

Allow the DI trust fund to borrow money from the OASI trust fund
[Image: Piggy bank labeled with 'OASI' pointint into a piggy bank labeled with 'DI']

To address broader challenges with the DI program, policy options generally fall into three major categories:
* Change eligibility criteria
[Image: Person checking boxes.]

* Improve program administration
[Image: Person with magnifying glass]

* Expand opportunities for work
[Image: Person with briefcase going into door]

There are also many options that could apply to both OASI and DI such as:
* Change benefits
[Image: Scale with dollars on one side and piggy bank on the other]

* Change how benefits grow over time
[Image: Person holding arrow; arrow pointing up]

* Increase revenues
[Image: Person holding two dollar bill signs]

These options - proposed by experts and researchers, and not endorsed or recommended by GAO - could be packaged individually or in combination. In combination with other changes, benefits could also be enhanced for groups at risk of poverty


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