Worry About U S Economy Healthcare Social Security Surges

Majorities of Americans also express "a great deal" of worry about inflation and federal spending WASHINGTON, D.C. — Economic issues continue to dominate Americans’ national concerns, with majorities expressing “a great deal” of personal worry about the economy, healthcare availability and affordability, inflation and the federal budget deficit. Along with the economy and healthcare, public concern about Social Security and the environment is up significantly, with Social Security registering a 15-year high. At the same time, concern about crime, drug use, immigration, and the availability and affordability of energy has decreased when the last measure of President Joe Biden’s term in 2024 is compared with the... After the change in presidential administrations, partisans’ worries have shifted significantly on most of the 16 issues Gallup measured, as Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have become more concerned, while Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are...

Americans’ top-ranking worries are pocketbook issues, including the economy (60% worry a great deal), healthcare costs (59%), inflation (56%), federal spending and the budget deficit (53%), and the Social Security system (52%). Americans’ top national concerns remain rooted in economic issues. Gallup reports that majorities say they worry “a great deal” about the economy (60%), healthcare costs (59%), inflation (56%), federal spending and the budget deficit (53%), and the Social Security system (52%). Concern about healthcare hasn’t ranked this high since 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic under President Trump’s first term. Social Security concern is now at its highest level in 15 years. Worry has also risen over the environment, while fewer Americans express strong concern about crime, immigration, drug use, or energy affordability.

The shift in presidential administrations appears to have driven sharp partisan changes. As President Trump took office earlier this year, Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents became significantly more concerned on 10 of the 14 issues tracked from last year. Republicans, meanwhile, reported decreased concern on 12 of them. The steepest drops in Republican concern were over inflation (down 18 points), terrorism (down 17), and the economy and energy affordability (each down 16 points). The only issue where Republican concern didn’t fall was healthcare availability. Partisan divides remain wide.

Republicans express more worry than Democrats about crime, immigration, drug use, the federal budget deficit, and the size and power of the federal government. Democrats are more concerned about nearly every other issue. Eight years. That’s all the time Congress has to prevent a fiscal catastrophe that would impose hardship not only on America’s 68 million Social Security beneficiaries, but could potentially destabilize the entire U.S. economy. The 2025 Trustees Report released in June exceeded the most dire warnings from experts: Both the Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and Medicare’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will be depleted by...

After the depletion of reserves in 2033, the Medicare hospital fund is forecast to be able to pay only 89% of scheduled benefits, the trustees reported. They project that the Social Security Old Age and Survivors Trust Fund will be able to pay only 77% of scheduled benefits after its reserves are depleted. These aren’t distant or theoretical problems. Social Security and Medicare provide more than income and healthcare to retirees – they represent the social contract between generations, the promise that decades of contributions will be rewarded with basic economic security later... Breaking that promise would fundamentally alter American society. “Waiting to act will entail making future adjustments much larger,” says Thomas E.

MaCurdy, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Professor of Economics at Stanford. “Not acting will dump an insurmountable financial mess in our children’s laps.” MaCurdy says the Social Security and Medicare systems are in far worse fiscal shape than the official projections suggest. Balancing Social Security’s long-term books requires a 30 percent permanent benefit cut starting now or alternatively, a rise in Social Security’s FICA payroll tax rate from its current 12.4 percent value to a whopping... wage earner. Fiscal circumstances for Medicare are no better.

Combined, payouts from Medicare’s HI Trust Fund and its Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) Trust Fund already result in a nearly $500 billion annual federal budget shortfall in covering total Medicare costs. A Program Created for a Different America To understand the magnitude of the crisis, consider how profoundly American society has changed since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act in 1935. Life expectancy hovered around 60 years at the time, and the typical middle-class family consisted of a working husband, a homemaker wife, and two or three children. A new Gallup poll reveals that Americans’ concerns about the economy, healthcare, and Social Security have surged, with majorities now expressing “a great deal” of personal worry about these issues. The findings highlight a growing sense of economic insecurity, and point to stark partisan divides in national priorities as the country transitions to a new presidential administration.

According to the survey, conducted March 3–16, 60% of Americans say they worry a great deal about the economy, followed closely by 59% citing healthcare availability and affordability, 56% concerned about inflation, 53% about... Social Security worry is now at its highest level in 15 years. While economic concerns dominate, worry about the environment also rose significantly, up six points from last year. In contrast, fewer Americans report high levels of concern about immigration, energy costs, crime, and drug use compared to 2024. The poll shows that pocketbook issues—those affecting day-to-day financial stability—continue to be Americans’ top priorities. Worry about healthcare costs, which had dropped from top concern status since 2020, is now nearly equal to concern about the economy and inflation.

Social Security’s sharp rise in concern underscores broader anxieties about retirement security. Meanwhile, 50% of respondents said they were greatly concerned about hunger and homelessness, and 48% expressed strong worry about income inequality and the size and power of the federal government. A new survey from Gallup has found that US voters' worries about the US economy, healthcare, and social security have “surged” since 2024. Figure 1: Worries about key issues, % A great deal 2024-2025 Find more articles and bullets on these widgets: Parker-Hannifin (PH A3[P]/BBB+/A-): New Issue FV

MNI INTERVIEW: Rate Lags On Credit Back Gradual Easing - Mejia Social Security recipients will receive a 2.5% increase in their monthly checks in 2025. Analysts had predicted a 2.5% bump for 2025, which is smaller than increases in the previous two years and reflects moderating inflation. Recipients received a 3.2% increase in their benefits in 2024, after a historically large 8.7% benefit increase in 2023, brought on by record 40-year-high inflation. WASHINGTON - A new poll reveals that economic issues continue to dominate Americans’ national concerns, with majorities expressing "a great deal" of personal worry about the economy, healthcare availability and affordability, inflation and Social... The poll surveyed more than 1,000 adults, living in all 50 U.S.

states between March 3-16, 2025. The poll found that public concern about Social Security is up significantly, with Social Security registering a 15-year high. When asked where the respondent personally worries about the issue of Social Security "a great deal, a fair amount, only a little or not at all," 52% of respondents answered "a great deal" and... The United States is undergoing a demographic shift that threatens the future of Social Security and Medicare. Longer lifespans, fewer births, and 73 million aging Baby Boomers are creating a financial crisis for programs that form the backbone of American retirement security. These programs were designed when many workers supported few retirees.

Today’s reality is starkly different. By 2034, Social Security’s trust funds will run dry unless Congress acts. Medicare’s hospital insurance fund faces the same fate by 2033. Without intervention, all beneficiaries will see benefit cuts. The math is unforgiving. In 1950, there were 16.5 workers paying into Social Security for every beneficiary.

Today, fewer than three workers support each retiree. By 2040, that ratio will drop to just two workers per beneficiary. U.S. population growth hit a historic low of just 0.1% in 2021, driven primarily by declining birth rates. American women had children at a record-low rate in 2020, with fertility falling 4% to well below the 2.1 children per woman needed to maintain population size without immigration. The Congressional Budget Office projects this trend will continue, with fertility rates remaining around 1.6 births per woman through 2055.

This means the U.S. will need immigration to avoid population decline.

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