Data for Progress: Polling on Medicare and Social Security
May 2024
- 78% of Americans want to expand Social Security benefits, and pay for it by taxing wealthy Americans.
- 90% of Americans want to expand the ability of Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices.
Data for Progress: Voters Want Congress to Expand Social Security — Not Cut It Behind Closed Doors
February 2024
- 92% of voters, and 94% of Republican voters, reject the idea of cutting Social Security to reduce the national debt.
- 70% of voters think the future of Social Security should be decided through the regular lawmaking process in Congress, not through a new closed-door commission.
Read full poll.
Navigator Research: Four in Five Americans Support Raising Taxes on the Rich and Corporations to Reduce the Deficit
June 2023
- 82% of voters support raising taxes on the rich and big corporations. Only 7% support cutting Social Security and Medicare.
Data for Progress: Voters Overwhelmingly Want Congress to Expand Social Security Benefits
June 2022
- 82% of voters want Congress to raise Social Security benefits across the board
- 83% of Democrats, 73% of independents, and 73% of Republicans want to strengthen Social Security and pay for it by making the wealthy contribute their fair share
Data for Progress: Independent Voters Support Democratic Plans to Expand Social Security
April 2022
- When independent voters hear about the Republican plan to “sunset” Social Security within five years and the Democratic plan to increase Social Security benefits, they are 58% more likely to vote for Democrats
AARP: Americans age 50+ Overwhelmingly Oppose Cutting Social Security to Reduce the Deficit
May 2021
- 88% of Republicans aged 50+ and 87% of Democrats aged 50+ oppose cutting Social Security benefits to pay down the deficit
- 87% of voters age 65+ oppose reducing Social Security benefits to reduce the deficit
Data for Progress: Voters Overwhelmingly Oppose Trump's Plan to Defund Social Security
September 2020
- 71% of voters oppose a plan to defer and/or eliminate the payroll tax
- When given partisan cues, 65% of voters oppose a plan to defer and/or eliminate the payroll tax
SimplyWise: Retirement Confidence Index
September 2020
- 63% of Americans feel confident in the future of Social Security if Joe Biden is elected. Only 44% feel confident if Donald Trump is re-elected.
Data for Progress: Voters Prioritize Protecting Social Security
August 2020
- Over half of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents rank preventing Social Security cuts as one of their top three voting priorities.
- Only 6% of voters ranked preventing Social Security cuts as one of their three lowest priority issues.
AARP: Social Security Opinions and Attitudes on Its 85th Anniversary
August 2020
- 65% of Americans think monthly Social Security payments are too low. Only 3% think they are too high.
- Nearly 75% of Americans are concerned that Social Security will not be enough to get by on, including 78% of Democrats and 67% of Republicans.
- 76% of Democrats, 59% of Independents, and 56% of Republicans agree that it would be better to pay more into Social Security now to protect benefits for future generations.
PEW: Majorities across demographic groups say no cuts should be made to Social Security benefits in the future
March 2019
- 74 percent of Americans say Social Security benefits should not be reduced in any way.
- 65 percent of adults aged 18 to 29 oppose cuts to Social Security; 77 percent of adults aged 30 to 49 hold that view while 80 percent of adults over 50 hold that view.
- 64 percent of adults with a Bachelor’s degree say Social Security benefits should not be cut for future retirees; 79 percent of those with less education say Social Security benefits should not be cut future retirees.
Public Policy Polling: “Voters overwhelmingly support expanding Social Security and Medicare, as well as taking federal action to lower drug prices.”
March 2018
- 84 percent of voters are more likely to back candidates who support taking federal action to lower prescription drug prices, vs. 11 percent who are less likely
- 66 percent of voters are more likely to back candidates who support expanding and increasing Social Security benefits, vs. 18 percent who are less likely
- 64 percent of voters are more likely to back candidates who support expanding Medicare, vs. 22 percent who are less likely
Pew: "Campaign Exposes Fissures Over Issues, Values and How Life Has Changed in the U.S."
Gallup: “Social Security Historical Trends”
April 2016
- 51 percent of Americans would choose raising taxes as a method to strengthen Social Security.
- 63 percent of Americans believe it would be a bad idea to raise the retirement age for those under 55 in order to address concerns with Social Security.
- 67 percent of Americans believe requiring high income workers to pay Social Security taxes on all of their wages is a good idea.
- 57 percent of Americans believe that reducing benefits for people who are currently under 55 is a bad idea.
Public Policy Polling: “Voters support expanding Social Security by making the wealthy pay their fair share”
October 2016
Majorities of Americans of all ages, genders, races, and political affiliations support expanding Social Security by asking millionaires and billionaires to pay more into the system, including:
- 75 percent of men and 69 percent of women
- 69 percent of whites, 82 percent of African Americans, and 79 percent of Latinos
- 70 percent of 18-29 year olds, 65 percent of 30-45 year olds, 76 percent of 46-65 year olds, and 70 percent of Americans over 65
- 87 percent of Democrats, 73 percent of Independents, and 51 percent of Republicans
National Institute on Retirement Security: “Retirement Security 2015: Roadmap for Policy Makers”
March 2015
- 69 percent of Americans oppose cutting spending when it comes to reducing Social Security benefits for future generations
- 73 percent of Americans oppose cutting benefits for current retirees and 53 percent strongly oppose cutting benefits for current retirees
Gallup: New Polling on Social Security
August 2015
- 57 percent of Americans prefer a raise in Social Security taxes rather than a cut in benefits to ensure long-term solvency of the program.
AARP: “Social Security 80th Anniversary Survey Report, Public Opinion Trends”
August 2015
- 61 percent of Americans believe the average monthly retiree benefit of $1,322 for 2015 is too low.
- Majorities of all ages agree that it is beneficial to pay more into Social Security now in order to protect benefits for future generations.
SSW: “Iowa and New Hampshire Voters Strongly Favor Protecting Social Security Benefits”
August 2015
A majority of voters in New Hampshire and Iowa would vote against a candidate who proposed cutting or reducing Social Security benefits.
- 63 percent of Iowa voters say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who proposed cutting or reducing Social Security benefits.
- 71 percent of voters from New Hampshire would be less likely to vote for a candidate who proposed cutting or reducing Social Security benefits.
A strong majority of New Hampshire and Iowa voters would support a candidate whose campaign platform protected Social Security benefits.
- 80 percent of Iowa and New Hampshire voters say they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who proposed protecting our Social Security benefits.
Over three-quarters of voters in Iowa and New Hampshire believe that the payroll tax dedicated to Social Security should be equally applied to everyone regardless of income.
- 77 percent of voters in New Hampshire and 76 percent of voters in Iowa believe that Congress should make millionaires and billionaires pay the same rate on all of their income, by eliminating the maximum taxable wage base and applying it to earned and invested income.
NASI: “Americans Make Hard Choices on Social Security”
October 2014
- 86 percent of Americans agree that Social Security benefits do not provide enough income for retirees.
- 72 percent of Americans agree we should consider raising Social Security benefits in order to provide a secure retirement for working Americans.
- 85 percent of Americans believe that Social Security benefits are now more important than ever.
- 81 percent of Americans don’t mind paying Social Security taxes because they provide stability and security to millions.
- 72 percent of Americans think we should consider increasing Social Security benefits.
- 55 percent of Americans believed that the average Social Security disability benefit in January 2014 ($1,146) was too low.
- 77 percent of working Americans would pay more to preserve Social Security benefits.
- 83 percent of top earners would pay more to preserve Social Security benefits.
- 71 percent would prefer a package of changes that increases Social Security revenues, pays for benefit improvements, and eliminates the projected financing gap.