Republican plans to raise retirement age fall heavily on poor

Social Security, which set retirement at 65 when enacted as a cornerstone of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, is credited with eradicating widespread poverty among the elderly.

The 1935 program was intended to help the poor by returning a higher proportion of their income. The life-expectancy gap erodes that advantage, because the rich draw payments longer, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

In 1983, Congress voted to gradually raise the retirement age on the recommendation of a panel convened by President Ronald Reagan. The current age to retire with full benefits is 66; those born after 1960 can stop working at 67.

Among Republican candidates, Christie's plan is the most detailed, calling for boosting the age to 69 in annual increments of two months starting in 2022. Benefits would be eliminated for the wealthiest.

"There is no legitimate analysis of the long-term Social Security solvency crisis that doesn't point to increased life expectancy as part of the cause," said Samantha Smith, a campaign spokeswoman. Christie also would end the payroll levy for workers older than 62, which would "disproportionately benefit lower-income workers," she said.

Worked Out

Alberta Ogburn, 64, doesn't know what she would have done had she been unable to take earlyretirement this year after leg problems ended her 26-year run as a housekeeper.

"I was having a problem getting up from the floor," said Ogburn, who helps support her daughter and two grandchildren in Petersburg.

Raising the retirement age is a way to cut benefits for those who need them most, said Teresa Ghilarducci, a labor economist at New York's New School for Social Research who advises Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

Clinton has yet to stake out a position on retirement age during this campaign. In 2007, she said raising it was unacceptable. Democratic rivals Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley favor boosting Social Security benefits and leaving the age alone.

Among Republicans, Carly Fiorina has said change is needed to preserve Social Security but hasn't given specifics, and frontrunner Donald Trump has called cutting the program unfair.

Regardless of equity, Virginia's truncated life spans come at a cost to all: the equivalent of 1.9 percent of gross domestic product, according to a 2012 Health Department report.

Had all residents the same mortality as those in the five most affluent counties, more than 24 percent of deaths between 1990 and 2006 would have been averted, the report said. That's almost 12,000 deaths per year.

"Your zip code is your pre-existing condition," said Adrienne McFadden, a physician who directs the department's Office of Minority Health and Health Equity.

In Petersburg, 27 percent of the 33,000 residents live in poverty, more than double the state average. Smoking and obesity are among Virginia's highest, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, a research center at the University of Washington.

Duran Chavis, a 35-year-old community organizer, is trying to extend lives by selling produce from a new indoor farm built in a rough neighborhood.

"We have a lot of high blood pressure, a lot of diabetes, which then leads to kidney problems," he said. "There are dialysis centers all over Petersburg. That's what they build here instead of grocery stores."

He and colleagues recently made kale and potato soup for the neighborhood and were overwhelmed by the response, he said.

The most enthusiastic tasters were people in their 60s, he said.