Explain why and how Social Security policies must change to meet the needs of older people today.

When Social Security was created during Roosevelt’s presidency, it was intended to serve as a social safety net for retirees. However, changes within our country have made it necessary that the way the system operates may need to change in order to be sustainable.
One of the biggest issues is the ratio of retirees who draw from Social Security versus the number of workers who pay into the fund. The generation known as the Baby Boomers is hitting retirement age; because of the sheer size of this group, the system is and will continue to experience a surge in the number of people who draw from the fund. At the same time, the working generations are not nearly as large, which means there will soon be too few people supporting the system so that retirees can continue to depend on it for financial support.
Another issue is that today’s life expectancy is much longer than it was in the past. While many still retire around age 65, the average life expectancy for a healthy individual is closer to 80. This means that people are using the Social Security fund much longer than they did when it was first established, as the life expectancy rate has increased dramatically over the past century.
The final issue is a purely financial one. Over the years with various economic downturns that affect the market, the bond rates that Social Security relies on to generate interest have yielded lower-than-desired returns. The Federal Reserve has lowered fixed interest rates, which is good for individuals and businesses but bad for fixed-income assets, which rely on making money from special issue bonds, which are seeing those same low interest rates. This could create a long term problem for the Social Security fund because it may not allow retirees’s income to keep up with inflation, making it difficult for them to continue living on a fixed income.
These are just some of the issues facing Social Security.