•Press Release
August 13, 2019
For Immediate Release: August 13, 2019
Contact: Karen Conner, (202) 293-5380 x117, [email protected]
Tomorrow is the 84th anniversary of Social Security. In today’s CEPR Blog, Senior Policy Fellow Shawn Fremstad looks at the efficiency and effectiveness of a sometimes overlooked aspect of the program. Social Security currently benefits nearly 3 million children under age 18 because one of their parents is an insured worker who has retired, become disabled, or died.
In fact, Social Security does more to reduce child poverty and family inequality than Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). In 2017, roughly 1.5 million children had family incomes above the poverty line because of Social Security, compared to only about 300,000 because of TANF.
