Offers a clear understanding of what Social Security has accomplished in the past, challenges it now faces, and possibilities for the future. Outlines the full spectrum of current issues, policies, benefits, and proposed reforms.

The US public has been led to believe that Social Security is going bankrupt and that our children will be burdened with supporting the elderly unless it is reformed. Benavie will refute these arguments. While it is true that our public pension system can be improved, this book will separate the widely accepted economic facts of the issue from personal value judgements. This book is an invaluable guide to understanding and making informed decisions about one of our most important social welfare systems.

Featured in The Washington Post An up-to-date guide to getting the most out of Social Security under the new regulations that took effect on April 29, 2016. Despite reports of Social Security's impending bankruptcy, Social Security remains an important part of most Americans' retirement plans. But will it be enough? Making Social Security Work for You teaches you what you need to know about Social Security retirement benefits and the options you can choose to help meet your retirement goals. In straightforward, easy-to-understand language, this compact guide provides advice on the advantages and disadvantages of delaying benefits as well as the best ways to maximize your benefits depending on your financial or marital situation. Featuring a glossary of terms to help you better understand Social Security jargon; a full explanation on how the system works under the new regulations that took effect on April 29, 2016; and practical, actionable advice on how and when to save additional retirement funds, this book shows you how to make your retirement the best it can possibly be. "Guy Birken brings her breezy style to explaining a system that can be mind-numbing." --The Washington Post

Social Security is the largest government program in the world. But it is also a deeply troubled one, on the verge of financial collapse. Within 15 years Social Security will begin running a deficit. Overall, the program is more than $26 trillion in debt. Without fundamental reform it will not be able to pay the benefits it has promised to our children and grandchildren. That has prompted the most far-reaching discussion of the purpose and structure of Social Security since the program was enacted in 1935. Not so very long ago, Social Security was rightly regarded as the “third rail” of American politics—touch it and your career dies. But no longer. Polls today show that the vast majority of Americans support proposals that would allow younger workers to privately invest at least part of their Social Security taxes through individual accounts. For more than 25 years the Cato Institute has led the debate for Social Security reform, arguing that the program is fundamentally flawed and calling for greater freedom and choice for working Americans. Social Security and Its Discontents represents the best of Cato’s publications on the issue. It includes essays by the nation’s top economists and Social Security experts, discussing Social Security’s finances; the urgent need for reform; how the program treats women, minorities, and low-income workers; and the options for reform. Edited by Michael D. Tanner, this collection is essential reading for anyone who cares about what kind of country we will leave to our children and grandchildren.

Offers a clear understanding of what Social Security has accomplished in the past, challenges it now faces, and possibilities for the future. Outlines the full spectrum of current issues, policies, benefits, and proposed reforms.

"Berkowitz tells the inside story of Social Security politics, including controversies during the 1970s, Congressional rescue of the program in 1983, and the ongoing debates about structure and solvency that have enveloped the program since the 1990s. He looks at how the Social Security Administration gained and nearly lost a reputation for administrative competence, how Medicare was put into operation, and why campaigns to create national health insurance have failed."--Jacket.

Social Protection & Labor at the World Bank, 2000-2008 presents a progress review of the sector strategy by the World Bank, published in early 2001. The strategy proposed a new conceptual frameworkOCoSocial Risk ManagementOCoto review and reform existing interventions and propose new ones that better assist vulnerable people in addressing the many risks to which they are exposed."