Leading Latino Organizations Release New Policy Brief Showing How Proposed Social Security Cuts Would Devastate Latinos
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
CONTACT:
Enrique Cortez
enrique@enitially.com
(202) 525-7411
WASHINGTON DC – The Latinos for a Secure Retirement coalition (LSR) has released a new policy brief showing the devastating effect the Chained-CPI benefit cut proposal would have on the Latino community. This unnecessary change would not only hit seniors immediately, but would be further compounded year by year. The report is available by Clicking Here.
When asked during a Monday news conference, President Obama made it clear that the debt ceiling discussions have included a proposal to use the chained consumer price index (chained CPI) to determine Social Security’s annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). This willingness to slash benefits by changing the CPI formula has alarmed advocates and ordinary citizens alike across the country and throughout the Latino community where the plan is seen as a dangerous threat to Latino seniors, the disabled and orphaned children who rely on their Social Security benefits as their primary source of support.
“Hearing that the President and Republican Members of Congress would even consider slashing Social Security benefits is incredibly disturbing,” stated Jeff Cruz, Executive Director of Latinos for a Secure Retirement, a national coalition of leading Latino organizations. “Shifting to a ‘Chained-CPI’ is not a minor technical change, it is a substantial cut in Social Security that will devastate millions of Americans. Our seniors and others who rely on this program deserve better.”
According to Congressional Budget Office estimates, the proposed change would cut the Social Security benefits of current and future retirees by $112 billion over the first 10 years. Beneficiaries who retire at age 65 and receive average benefits would get $560 less a year at age 75 than they would under current law and $1,000 less a year at age 85 – a 3.7 percent cut and a 6.5 percent cut, respectively. The proposal would cut $1.6 trillion worth of benefits over Social Security’s 75 year valuation period – mainly from the oldest of the old who are disproportionately Latinos, women and poor. The Social Security Administration estimates that nearly a quarter-million Americans would be driven into poverty by 2050 if the switch were made to the Chained-CPI.
For Latino men and women, the cuts would be especially painful since they are less likely to have access to a pension through their job, have longer life expectancies, and are already at risk economically because many of them have lower incomes throughout their lifetime and therefore lower benefits. While keeping millions of seniors out of poverty every year, the average yearly Social Security benefit for Latino seniors is only $12,213 for men, and $9,536 for Latinas. These Social Security benefits are the only source of income for almost half of Latino seniors.
“Latinos may not be present in the negotiating room, but our voices will be heard in the voting booth next election,” said Mr. Cruz. The Latinos for a Secure Retirement (LSR) coalition brings together some of the strongest and most prominent advocates for Latinos in the country including the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), The Hispanic Federation, the National Hispanic Council on Aging, MANA- A National Latina Organization, SER- Jobs for Progress National, Inc., the Institute for the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Elderly, the American GI Forum and the National Association for Hispanic Elderly.
The LSR coalition is joining a national call-in day to Congress on Thursday, July 14th and Friday, July 15th to prevent cuts to Social Security benefits through the propose change to the chained CPI. The outreach effort is in partnership the Strengthen Social Security Coalition, and information is available by Clicking Here.
In addition to the policy brief, LSR is releasing a short quiz on the chained-CPI to help policy makers better understand the complicated negative effects of such a change. The quiz and answer explanations are viewable by Clicking Here.
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For more information about Latinos for Secure Retirement, visit www.latinosforasecureretirement.org.
For more information on LSR Coalition members including:
League of United Latin American Citizens, visit http://lulac.org
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, visit http://www.lclaa.org
The Hispanic Federation, visit http://www.hispanicfederation.org
The National Hispanic Council on Aging, visit http://www.nhcoa.org
MANA, A National Latina Organization, visit http://www.hermana.org
SER- Jobs for Progress National, Inc., visit http://www.ser-national.org
Institute for the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Elderly, visit http://www.iprhe.org
American GI Forum, visit http://www.agifusa.org
National Association for Hispanic Elderly, visit http://www.anppm.org