Social Security Benefits a Critical Income Source for Asian Americans
Released by the Insight Center for Community Economic Development, the report shows that Social Security keeps 19 percent of older Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (APAs) out of poverty and that of those APAs of all ages receiving the program’s disability insurance, 56.2 percent relied on it for more than 75 percent of their incomes.
Among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans age 65 and older receiving Social Security income, 29 percent of married couples and 60 percent of unmarried people relied on it for more than 90 percent of their incomes, the report said.
“Asian and Pacific Islander Americans depend on Social Security benefits as a critical income source, both as elders and as disabled people of all ages,” according to Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders and Social Security: A Primer.
“The existing Social Security system is the best way to guarantee some measure of financial security to disabled and elderly Asian and Pacific Islander American workers and their families,” the primer said.
The co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform late last year recommended a number of changes to the Social Security system. As changes to Social Security are considered, it is important to understand how different races and ethnic groups in the United States utilize the system.
The Insight Center’s primer, commissioned by AARP - a nonprofit nonpartisan organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole - is intended as a starting point to fill the gap in research on how Asian and Pacific Islander American workers use Social Security Ð research that will become increasingly important in the future.
“Because this population is projected to almost double again by 2050, rising to 9 percent of all Americans, more research is needed to ensure their needs are met as reform of the Social Security program is considered,” said the Insight CenterÕs Meizhu Lui, who wrote the primer.
It’s important that such research be broken down by ethnic group because “the APA economic profile varies widely by ethnicity, with some at the high end, and others, like the Hmong, among the poorest Americans,” said Lui, director of the Insight CenterÕs “Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative.”
Other major findings of the primer include the following:
* Social Security’s annual cost-of-living adjustments are particularly important to Asian elders because their life expectancy at 65 is three years longer than all Americans.
* Social Security’s progressive benefit structure helps APAs, whose benefit levels are lower than the total population.
* Southeast Asians are particularly reliant on Social Security Disability Income.
• Language, cultural issues and lack of awareness of the Social Security program present a barrier for many foreign-born Asians to access critical benefits to which they are entitled.
•
“The modest, hard-earned Social Security benefits that millions of Asian Americans receive are critical for the financial and retirement security for themselves and for their families,” said Mae Mendelson, AARP board member. “This important research from the Insight Center highlights the need for our elected officials to consider the impact of any proposed changes to Social Security benefits for current and future generations of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans, as we look for ways to strengthen retirement security for current and future generations.”
Related Articles
Man Pulls Off Woman's Winter Scarf Because He Thought She Was Muslim
New York - A New York woman was making a quick run to a local…
Muslim Girl Terrified to Return to School After Classmate Beats Her, Rips Off Hijab
MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is calling out a…
Brutal Crackdowns, Hidden Poverty: How Preparations for the Rio Olympics Hurt Afro-Brazilians
In the next few weeks, Aug. 5-21, the city of Rio de Janeiro is going…
UC Santa Cruz Students Arrested In Alleged Drug Ring
The suspects were identified as Mariah Dremel, Benny Liu, Cesar Casil, Nathan Tieu, Hoai Nguyen…
Letter To My Sikh Son: Be Proud of Your Identity
Editor’s Note: Bay Area resident Jaskaran Singh is dismayed that Sikhs in the U.S. are…
Governor Nikki Haley Seen as Potential Republican Vice Presidential Pick
WASHINGTON — South Carolina's Indian American Governor Nikki Haley's choice to give the Republican response…