Terrible headlines prompt people to demand social security early – There are real consequences – Retirement Research Center

Attacks on social security have caused anxiety about the stability of the program.

Doge's attack on social security puts the agency's operations at risk, undermining the security of personal data and creating widespread anxiety about the reliability of the program. At the same time, claims are also surging. Although the agency raised other reasons for the surge, I firmly believe that my colleagues Laura Quinby and Gal Wettstein’s investigation into participants’ responses to horror newspaper headlines is that fear of losing welfare is the main role.

Doge launched a four-pronged attack on social security:

• False claims that people who accused people of paying payroll taxes would result in mass fraud.
• Describing the program as a “Ponzi scheme” suggests it is not financially reasonable.
• In-depth layoffs were conducted on frontline staff and SSA’s field offices and initially ended the phone service before revisiting and eventually giving up the idea.
• Harm benefits delivery while driving the agency to lose a lot of technical expertise while driving program changes.

The attacks have received widespread media attention, and stories of people not being able to reach Social Security deputies or making appointments in the field office.

Meanwhile, social security is overwhelmed by unprecedented retirement benefits claims. So far in the fiscal year, Urban Institute reported that 276,000 retired workers claimed benefits, which allowed the agency to grow 15% in fiscal 2025, five times the average growth in the past 12 years.

Social Security officials offer several reasons for the surge in applications: more baby boomers, over 65 years of age; recent legislation has increased the benefits of state/local workers; and improved institutional communication with beneficiary spouses who may qualify for higher gains from their job records. But anxiety about the future where benefits and plans are available certainly plays a major role.

My colleagues documented the effect of fear on claims in online experiments that examined participants’ responses to terrible descriptions of social security finance. The Control Team saw a similar title to the summary document of the 2020 Trustee Report: “Social Security faces a shortage of long-term financing.” The Treatment group saw headlines that highlighted the depletion of trust funds (see Table 1).

The assumption is that three headlines highlighting the depletion of trust funds will lead respondents to a policy change in mind relative to the title shown in the control group. In fact, the results show that all headlines citing trust funds were requested earlier than the headlines of the control group, which planned to require an average age of 66.

Respondents who saw the first title (“Eating in 2034” are expected to claim half a year ago, while those who saw the second title (“Trust Funds Will Go to Bankruptcy in 2034”) are expected to claim a year ago, while respondents see a third headline in the third title (“Earnings of Earnings cover 75%”, with plans to claim 7.7 years ago.

Earlier claims that participants usually stop working faster than planned, stop saving 401(k) plans, and lock themselves into monthly benefits with reduced computing power. That is, claiming earlier actual costs.

In short, Doge not only harms the Social Security Agency as an entity, but also damages the financial security of older workers, making them afraid of early demands.