| I think that there are generalities that could be said to be true of any country, how they are similar internally and different from other countries; there are also pockets of similarities between countries. I stayed with my grandparents in the summers on their farm. Living there were 4 generations - a great grandparent, 2 grandparents and an uncle. As this was in a rural area, it was not all that unusual and I strongly suspect that similar situations were scattered throughout the country in urban, suburban, and rural areas. As to Social Security, the problem as I see it is that the program has expanded well beyond its initial scope. It started in the mid 30s with workers and employers each contributing. A few years later, spouses of the worker, widows and children of the worker, and those who retired and had never paid into the system were added. The latter being a particular burden to the initial system. The taxes were later raised to 4% with 2% from the worker and 2% from the employer. Later still retirement age was reduced from 65 to 62. These and a few other changes contributed to the large expansion of the system and Congress was always adding to the benefits (so they could get re-elected). Perhaps the current largest problem is the number of workers expected to retire within the next 20 or so years. Birth rates have gone down and as the system is funded only by current workers we will shortly have more folks receiving benefits than folks paying into it. Insolvancy is expected around the year 2020. Indeed, the program is a huge mess and elected officials lack the courage to fix it. |
Are American Economically Family-Independent