A new bill called the Social Security Enhancement and Protection Act introduced by Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.) aims to improve benefits for senior citizens and keep them from dipping into poverty.
The bill would improve benefits by:
- Updating the special minimum benefit
- Applying childcare credits toward future program eligibility
- Increasing monthly checks by 5 percent once retired for 20 years
“My proposal would help us ensure that Social Security does what it was intended to do: protect all older Americans from spending their retirement living in deep poverty,” Moore said in a statement.
Some argue that an easier fix, for the time being, would be to increase Social Security benefits through Supplemental Security Income benefit reform. In 2021, the maximum monthly SSI benefit is $794 for an individual and $1,191 for a married couple. Some Senators are calling for raising these monthly benefits to directly help those in poverty today.
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