By Drew Dixon
Social Security has been helping the elderly retire in America for 90 years, but a new survey by AARP shows Americans have their doubts it will still be available by the time they need it.
Confidence in Social Security used to be a given, but the AARP study shows it’s starting to wane. The latest survey indicates that only 36% of Americans have confidence in Social Security. That’s down by 7 percentage points from the 2020 survey, which showed 43% of respondents said they had confidence in the federal retirement system.
The AARP study shows that’s the lowest level since a 2010 survey that showed confidence in Social Security was at 35%.
In the latest survey, 67% of Americans say Social Security is more important for retirees today than five years ago. Another 96% say Social Security is generally important.
“For 90 years, Social Security has never missed a payment, and Floridians should have confidence that it never will,” said AARP Florida State Director, Jeff Johnson. “AARP will never stop fighting to protect the Social Security payments that Floridians have earned from a lifetime of hard work.”
Florida has long been known as having a high retiree population. AARP figures show about 20% of Floridians count on Social Security to be there when they step away from the workforce. Another 46% of Floridians of retirement age rely on Social Security to fund about 50% of their income. Another 24% say it accounts for 90% of their income.
Nationally, 65% of retired Americans say they rely substantially on Social Security, and another 21% say they rely on it somewhat.
Meanwhile, 78% of Americans are worried Social Security will not provide enough to live on once they retire. That’s up from the 2020 figure of 74%.
The survey tapped 3,599 Americans older than 18. The survey was conducted between June 18 and 23 in online and phone questionnaires.
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