Politics / Society
Social Security Benefits Remain Vital Source of Retirement Income for Latinos
- According to the report, both working age and older Latinos have higher rates of disability than non-Latino whites.
May 12, 2011 12:56 PM
Social Security is a critical income source for elderly and disabled Latinos because of their socioeconomic condition, higher rates of disability and longer life expectancy, according to a report published by the USC Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging.
"Social Security is currently the only robust, reliable source of retirement income for low-income workers, underscoring the importance of ensuring the program's viability for current, future and retired Latino workers," said the institute’s executive director William A. Vega, who co-authored the primer, commissioned by the AARP, with pre-doctoral fellow Zachary D. Gassoumis.
Latinos represent a significant percentage of working-class laborers in sectors with fluctuating seasonal employment, where occupational injuries and disabilities are common and where there are fewer opportunities to participate in a workplace savings program.
Both working age and older Latinos have higher rates of disability than non-Latino whites. Accordingly, the primer said, increasing the retirement age for Social Security would impose a significant and disproportionate financial burden on Latinos who retire early due to work-related health issues.
Noting that Latinos' average life expectancy exceeds that of Americans overall, the report highlighted the importance of ensuring benefits to qualified Latinos are not eroded over time by inflation and continue to allow families to meet their basic financial necessities.
"We must stay true to the original intention of Social Security and provide adequate resources for a sustainable and dignified retirement," Vega said. "Given current unstable economic conditions, this will require a sufficiently flexible policy framework that will not render people with low incomes vulnerable to hardships that other Americans are not expected to endure."
Almost half of all older Latinos would live in poverty without Social Security benefits; 25 percent of Latino men and 27 percent of Latinas aged 65 or older relied on Social Security for 90 percent or more of their family income, the report said.
Although Latinos are the fastest growing ethnic group in the nation, they remain a relatively young population and will contribute to the Social Security system for many years to come without receiving benefits until decades later, according to the report.
"The promise of retirement security that Social Security provides for millions of Americans today is particularly significant to Latinos, both now and in the future, as demonstrated by this important research," said AARP board member Fernando Torres-Gil. "This Roybal Institute report underscores the need for our elected officials to consider what impact any proposed changes to the program will have on all Americans as they work to strengthen retirement security for future generations."
The primer, "Impact of Social Security and Proposed Benefit Changes on the Latino Population," is available at http://roybal.usc.edu/Latinos-and-SocialSecurity.pdf
AARP also supported the development of Social Security primers that focused on African Americans and Asian Americans.
The report about African Americans is available at assets.aarp.org/www.aarp.org_/build/templates/issues/advocacy/socsec/SSPrimer02011.pdf
The report about Asian Americans is available at assets.aarp.org/www.aarp.org_/build/templates/issues/advocacy/socsec/APASocialSecurityPrimer.pdf
TAGS: research
Latest Politics / Society stories
- Myers Urges Generational Unity for 2012 Election February 15, 2012 2:06 PM
- George Will Shares His Perspective on Politics February 9, 2012 1:10 PM
- NYPD Expert Breaks Down Al Qaeda's Plots February 7, 2012 9:20 AM
-
For Journalists »
-
USC in the News
for 2/22/2012 »-
The New York Times highlighted the USC Libraries Scripter Awards, noting that “The Descendants” took the prize for the best adapted screenplay of the year. Screenwriters Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash accepted the award with novelists Kaui Hart Hemmings this past Saturday at USC’s Doheny Memorial Library. Variety reported that USC Libraries Dean Catherine Quinlan served as mistress of ceremonies, feigning dismay over the lack of library-centric films. “Where are all the library movies?” she said. The awards were also covered by United Press International, The Times-Picayune, two Deadline stories (second link here), The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, HitFix and World Entertainment News Network.
Los Angeles Business reported that the USC Rossier School’s Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis has been renamed the Earl and Pauline Pullias Center for Higher Education. The story stated that the re-naming comes after a generous undisclosed gift from the Pullias Family estate. “The Pullias Center can now expand its cutting edge research on postsecondary institutions, as well as its critical community outreach work helping underserved students get into college,” said Rossier Dean Karen Symms Gallagher. Earl Pullias was a founding faculty member of USC’s higher education department in 1957. William Tierney of the Rossier School directs the Pullias Center.
NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” interviewed David Treuer of the USC Dornsife College about his new book, “Rez Life: An Indian’s Journey Through Reservation Life.” The book centers around the reservation Treuer grew up on, and how the Native American experience is often depicted in ways that leave out the happy moments. “There’s this great disconnect between ... how we feel and how we seem,” Treuer said. Treuer’s book was also featured by Minnesota Public Radio, Star-Tribune, Appeal-Democrat, The Spectrum, Baltimore City Paper, The Bemidji Pioneer and Brainerd Dispatch.
KCET-TV featured “The Accidental Feminist” by M.G. Lord of the USC Dornsife College, a new book about the ways in which actress Elizabeth Taylor served as an early feminist icon. Lord said that she came to write the book after spending a weekend watching Taylor movies with friends; they found that in many of Taylor’s movies, she offered veiled feminist messages or embraced her own sexual desire while working within the constraints of the Motion Picture Production Code.
China Internet Information Center (China) featured a screening of the documentary “Assignment: China — The Week That Changed the World,” created by the USC U.S.-China Institute. The documentary follows the American journalists reporting on President Nixon’s historic visit to China in 1972. The institute’s Mike Chinoy narrates the documentary.
-
-
Campus News
- Capital Connections
- USC faculty, staff and alumni in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento
- In Print
- New and recent books written or edited by USC faculty and staff
- Family Matters
- Achievements and awards
- Obituaries