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FrontRow · Nov 11, 2026

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Social Security's taxable payroll, which provides most of the revenue for the program that pays monthly benefits to millions of Americans, has fallen as a share of gross domestic product over the past four decades, according to a new report from the AARP Public Policy Institute. Had payroll tax revenue kept up with GDP, the program could pay full benefits until 2059, according to the research — an additional 25 years beyond the latest projected depletion date of 2034 for the program's combined funds. The AARP Public Policy Institute provides policy research, analysis and development at AARP, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that represents Americans ages 50 and over. "Social Security's finances have weakened not simply because America has grown older, but because the economy has changed, while the program's revenue system has not," Richard Johnson, vice president of financial security at the AARP Public Policy Institute, said during a Tuesday press briefing on the research. "America's economy is larger and more productive than it was four decades ago, but Social Security is receiving support from a smaller share of that economy," Johnson said.

Social Security's taxable payroll, which provides most of the revenue for the program that pays monthly benefits to millions of Americans, has fallen as a share of gross domestic product over the past four decades, according to a new report from the AARP Public Policy Institute. Had payroll tax revenue kept up with GDP, the program could pay full benefits until 2059, according to the research — an additional 25 years beyond the latest projected depletion date of 2034 for the program's combined funds. The AARP Public Policy Institute provides policy research, analysis and development at AARP, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that represents Americans ages 50 and over. "Social Security's finances have weakened not simply because America has grown older, but because the economy has changed, while the program's revenue system has not," Richard Johnson, vice president of financial security at the AARP Public Policy Institute, said during a Tuesday press briefing on the research. "America's economy is larger and more productive than it was four decades ago, but Social Security is receiving support from a smaller share of that economy," Johnson said.

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