Upcoming Urban Institute Social Security events

Forum #2: Wednesday, June 16, 8:30–10:00 a.m.
562 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Constitution Avenue and First Street, NE
Washington, DC

"The Social Side of Social Security: Can Benefit Adequacy and Equity Be Improved?"
Register Online

Opening Remarks

• Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), sponsor of H.R. 769, the Social Security Caregiver Credit Act of 2009
  

Panelists:

• Melissa Favreault, senior research associate, Urban Institute; coauthor, Social Security and the Family
  
• Virginia P. Reno, vice president for income security policy, National Academy of Social Insurance
  
• Sylvester Schieber, former chair, Social Security Advisory Board
  
• Paul van de Water, senior fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; former associate commissioner for research, evaluation, and statistics, Social Security Administration
  

The experts will examine such issues as who ends up with low Social Security benefits. Why? Should we reform Social Security to better protect the most vulnerable and increase equity? What are the possible options? Should other safety net programs, such as Supplemental Security Income, fill this role? How could we pay for adequacy adjustments? What does Congress think about the options?

 

Forum #3: Wednesday, July 14, 8:30–10:00 a.m.
Washington, D.C., location to be announced

"The Big Balance: Raising the Retirement Age while Protecting Those Who Cannot Work"
Register Online

Panelists:

• Gary Burtless, senior fellow and John C. and Nancy D. Whitehead Chair in Economic Studies, Brookings Institution
  
• Richard W. Johnson, senior fellow and director, Program on Retirement Policy, Urban Institute
  
• Karyne Jones, president and CEO, National Caucus and Center on Black Aged
  
• Monique Morrissey, economist, Economic Policy Institute
  
• David Stapleton, senior fellow and director, Center for Studying Disability Policy, Mathematica Policy Research
  
• Frank Todisco, senior pension fellow, American Academy of Actuaries
  

Panelists will discuss how health status, job characteristics, and job prospects intersect to affect work at older ages. What will happen to Social Security if Americans do not extend their careers as life expectancy increases? Would raising Social Security's early entitlement age or full retirement age hurt low-income groups? Can Social Security Disability Insurance adequately protect workers with health problems? Are there alternatives to raising the retirement age that would promote work at older ages?

 

A light breakfast will precede each event at 8:15 a.m.

These forums are made possible by a generous grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.

Please visit www.retirementpolicy.org to learn about our ongoing research on the distributional effects of Social Security proposals and other income security issues affecting older Americans.