The Benefits of a Universal Social Assistance Program

1107 Words5 Pages
The Benefits of a Universal Social Assistance Program Abstract Social security and government mandated universal social assistance programs are the most effective way to prevent poverty in seniors. The general population is aging and savings and private pensions do not provide most people with an adequate retirement income. People are not saving enough to support themselves in retirement and private pensions are very expensive for companies to provide and are often altered to save companies money. This can greatly impact the living standards of the elderly. People are concerned that the cost of social security is going to grow as the population ages, but it is the most effective way to help our population maintain a basic standard of living. Today, many people are concerned about weather they will be able to save enough money to retire comfortably, or even to be able to afford retire at all. People are not saving enough for retirement. The incorporation of pensions and old age security has been shown to be beneficial to society, however people are no longer saving enough to maintain their standard of living when they retire. In “Old Age Pensions Before Social Security”, Leighninger (2007) highlights how private pensions often do not support people in retirement effectively and how they can be changed or revoked and the elderly can be left without one of their main sources of income. These concerns are not new and can be seen as early as the 1920’s. Pensions support a large portion of the population, but they are very expensive for businesses to maintain. This is why businesses have altered them. This creates problems for businesses when workers become uncomfortable with their lack of preparation for the future and become inefficient. In “The Adequacy of Household Saving”, Engen, Gale, Uccello, Carroll, & Laibson (1999) tells us that household saving is

More about The Benefits of a Universal Social Assistance Program

Open Document