Emily Ekins and Hunter Johnson
55% of Americans don’t know how Social Security is funded, 79% don’t believe they’ll receive their full benefit in retirement
The Cato Institute’s August 2025 Social Security Survey of 2,200 Americans, conducted by Morning Consult, reveals that many Americans are deeply confused about how Social Security works, what it’s for, and what the future holds. Despite the program’s central role in retirement planning, the public lacks a basic understanding of how it’s funded or how much it pays.
Over half of Americans (55%) don’t know how Social Security is funded. Less than half (45%) know that today’s workers pay for current retirees, and that future workers will pay for their benefits when they retire. Nearly a quarter (23%) believe that their Social Security taxes are saved in a personal account for them. Another third (32%) say they don’t know how Social Security is funded.
A majority of Americans (55%) believe the main purpose of Social Security is to replace seniors’ income. Less than half, 45%, believe the program is to ensure that seniors don’t fall below the poverty line, which is how the program was originally intended.
Partisans have similar views, although Democrats are somewhat more likely than Republicans to think Social Security is an anti-poverty program (48% to 41%) and Republicans are somewhat more likely than Democrats to think it’s an income replacement program (59% to 52%).
An overwhelming majority of nonretired adults (79%) do not believe they will receive their full scheduled Social Security benefits when they retire. About one in ten (13%) go even further, saying they expect to receive nothing at all.
Many Americans would be surprised to learn that American seniors have more wealth than middle-aged Americans. Indeed, the survey found that only 26% know that Americans ages 65–74 have on average more wealth than Americans ages 35–44. A majority (74%) think that either seniors have less wealth (43%) or that they have the same amount of wealth (31%) as those 35–44 years old.
Most (60%) understand that workers who paid more into Social Security get higher benefits than those who paid in less. Fifteen percent think all retirees receive the same benefit, and 25% aren’t sure.
However, there are considerable knowledge gaps pertaining to the actual amounts disbursed. Ninety-one percent of Americans did not know that the highest annual Social Security benefit can reach $60,000 a year. When it comes to estimating the average benefits Americans receive, only 25% correctly answered that the average benefit is $20,000–$29,000 per year.
Overall, 38% underestimated the average Social Security benefit people receive, 17% overestimated the amount, 25% selected the correct answer, and 19% weren’t sure.
Social Security’s Future Solvency
Over the past decade, Social Security has paid out more in benefits than it collects in taxes from current workers. Government analysts project that if Congress does nothing, all Social Security benefits could be cut by about a quarter starting in 2033. The survey found that most Americans are aware of the program’s looming financial challenges.
About three in four adults (77%) have heard that Social Security is projected to run short of money by 2033. Among seniors aged 65 and older, awareness is even higher, with more than nine in ten (93%) having heard about the shortfall.
Americans are evenly divided about how to address the Social Security program’s 2033 shortfall. A little more than a third (37%) believe taxes should be raised, fewer (28%) think benefits should be cut, and a remarkable 35% felt Congress should just borrow the money.
Support for a Flat Benefit
To avoid tax hikes or benefit cuts, a plurality (38%) of Americans would support switching to a flat Social Security benefit of about $1,800 a month for all retirees regardless of their prior earnings. This would require lowering benefits for high earners and increasing benefits for low earners compared to what they get now. A little more than a quarter (28%) would oppose this change, and 34% aren’t sure either way.
Support declines when framed in terms of equality of benefits. Slightly more oppose (35%) than support (32%) switching to a flat monthly benefit when framed as giving everyone the same benefit regardless of how much they contributed to the system.
The results suggest Americans may be open to replacing Social Security’s earnings-based formula with a flat benefit for all. However, support for this change appears conditional; many are skeptical unless the alternative is broad benefit cuts or tax increases.
Partisans Align on Flat Benefits
Notably, Democrats and Republicans had very similar views and knowledge gaps about Social Security. For instance, majorities of both Democrats and Republicans didn’t know how Social Security is funded (53% and 50%, respectively), and think that its purpose is to replace incomes (52% and 59%) rather than prevent poverty (48% and 41%), or offers benefits as high as $60,000 annually (91% and 91%). Unsurprisingly, Democrats were slightly more likely than Republicans to favor raising taxes (44% vs. 34%) and Republicans slightly more likely than Democrats to support cutting benefits (32% vs. 24%) to address the Social Security shortfall.
Remarkably, however, both Democrats and Republicans almost equally supported the idea of a flat benefit. Forty-four percent of Democrats and 40% of Republicans support the idea of changing Social Security so that all retirees get the same monthly benefit of about $1,800 a month to avoid tax increases and benefit cuts (and 29% and 34% opposed, respectively). Similarly, both Democrats (35%) and Republicans (36%) supported the idea when framed in terms of equality of benefits regardless of prior earnings.
Generational Gap
Younger Americans and older Americans have highly divergent views and knowledge about Social Security. Americans aged 18–29 are more likely than seniors to mistakenly believe that Social Security taxes are saved in a personal account for them (34% vs. 17%), and much less likely to correctly understand that their taxes fund current retirees (25% vs. 66%).
Generational perspectives also differ on the role of Social Security. More than half of Gen Z respondents (53%) view it primarily as a poverty protection program for seniors. Meanwhile, 60% of Baby Boomers see it as a system designed to replace income in retirement.
Younger Americans also show greater openness to reforming Social Security. When asked how they would respond to the projected depletion of Social Security funds in 2033, nearly half of Gen Z respondents said they would prefer cutting benefits (49%) to raising taxes (20%), while a majority of Baby Boomer respondents favored raising taxes (52%) to cutting benefits (13%).
This generational divide continues with proposals to restructure Social Security into a flat benefit system: Young adults support the idea (44% vs. 22%). In contrast, the majority of seniors oppose it (44% vs. 30%).
Conclusion
These findings reveal not only widespread confusion about how Social Security works, but also a surprising openness to reform, especially among younger Americans. As the program approaches financial shortfall, policymakers may find that the public is more willing to consider significant changes than previously thought, particularly if those changes are framed as necessary to avoid painful tax hikes or benefit cuts.
The Cato Institute August 2025 Social Security Survey was designed and conducted by the Cato Institute in collaboration with Morning Consult. Full topline results can be found HERE and crosstabs found HERE. Morning Consult collected responses online July 19–21, 2025, from a national sample of 2,200 Americans 18 years of age and older. Restrictions are put in place to ensure that only the people selected and contacted by Morning Consult are allowed to participate. The margin of error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence.
