COVID-19 damage to Social Security to extend beyond pandemic | TheHill

COVID-19’s impact on America’s older adults is set to outlast the pandemic itself as it wreaks havoc on the Social Security retirement trust fund that millions rely on for benefits.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that in the aftermath of the pandemic, the trust fund will deplete its $2.8 trillion reserve over the next decade unless changes are made.

The decreased revenue stream stems in large part from the millions of lost jobs during the pandemic, which has led to fewer people and employers paying into the trust fund.

Provisions in the record $2.2 trillion CARES Act passed in March let more people dip into their retirement savings funds sooner without penalty, raising concerns among experts that many Americans in the long run will be more reliant on Social Security.

“It’s the biggest program there is, dependent on by millions and millions of people, and for decades we’ve known that we face insolvency,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a budget watchdog group.

MacGuineas said there are four broad categories for potential policy fixes to stabilize Social Security: raising new revenues, reducing benefits to all or some recipients, raising the retirement age and adjusting cost of living calculations.

“Making sure that the program is fully financed is extremely important, but it’s a means to an end, and that end is providing economic security,” said Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, an advocacy group that promotes increased benefits.

But whereas previous alarms about the trust fund had warned of a crisis far off in the future, the situation has gotten to a point that current beneficiaries could see their benefits reduced in the coming years.