Stabilizing Social Security - Which Wage Measure Would Best Align Benefit Increases with Revenue Increases

摘要

The Social Security Amendments of 1983 included an automatic mechanism to help align Social Security benefit payment increases with revenue increases if Social Security reserves fall below a specified level. GAO was asked which of several wage measures would be the most timely and accurate to use in this alignment. GAO evaluated eight wage measures and found that two--the currently used Social Security Administration average wage index and the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Employment Cost Index--would be the most timely and accurate to use as an automatic mechanism.