Is privatizing Social Security the answer?
Too Many Elderly for the Working-age Population to Support? The economic burden of supporting retirees is often estimated by what is called the “dependency ratio”–the number of elderly compared to the number of people of working age (20 to 64 years). This ratio is projected to rise from 21.6 seniors per 100 working-age people in 1995 to 35.5 seniors in 2030, as Americans aged 65 and over increase from 34 million to around 70 million–and from 13 to 20 percent of the population. Thus, as the post-World War II baby boom generation reaches retirement age starting in 2012, it must be supported by the relatively smaller cohort of workers born during the low birth-rate years of the past three to four decades. The problem here is that the working population supports all those who do not work–children (including students) as well as the elderly. This “total dependency ratio” changes the picture radically: the ratio of all dependents to workers is projected to rise from 71.1 per 100 workers i
