Our Ability to Manage Social Security as a "Pay-As-You-Go" Program

Multiple Choice

Our ability to manage Social Security as a "pay-as-you-go" program (in which taxes collected from those currently working are used to make benefits payments to those currently retired) is impaired when the number of retirees per worker increases. The current concern about the stability of Social Security is based primarily on projections that there will many more retirees per worker as the baby boomers continue to retire. Then, if we want to maintain a pay-as-you-go system, we can:

A) lower payroll taxes to ease the burden on those currently working.
B) raise payroll taxes to compensate for the increase in the number of retirees.
C) lower payroll taxes to compensate for the increase in the number of retirees.
D) raise payroll taxes to ease the burden on those currently working.