Survey: Young Workers Skeptical About Social Security

By Staff Writer

January 07, 2003 at 07:00 PM

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NU Online News Service, Jan. 7, 1:03 p.m. – Young U.S. workers and low-income workers are especially skeptical about the future of Social Security, according to a survey by Prudential Financial Inc., Newark, N.J.

When researchers surveyed 1,064 U.S. residents between the ages of 21 and 65 in June, they found that 66% of the respondents under 35 think Social Security may cease to exist when they retire, compared with 51% of respondents between the ages of 35 and 49 and only 29% of the participants over age 49.

Fifty-six percent of the participants with annual incomes under $50,000 question whether Social Security will come through, compared with 49% of participants with incomes between $50,000 and $75,000 and 43% of participants with incomes over $75,000.

More than 70% of participants would like the government to put some Social Security assets in personal accounts that the workers themselves could manage, Prudential says.

Prudential and other U.S. financial services companies have argued for years that the government ought to create personal Social Security accounts, to increase the likely returns.

Opponents argue that creating personal accounts would expose tens of millions of unsophisticated workers to too much market risk.

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