In a December 2025 Cato Institute/YouGov survey, 69% of adults chose protecting current retirees’ Social Security benefits even if younger workers pay higher taxes; 31% chose protecting younger workers from higher taxes even if retirees receive smaller benefits. The split reversed among adults under 30: 53% favored protecting younger workers, compared with 89% of adults 65 and older who favored protecting retirees. These are responses to a forced either-or question—not a forecast of what Congress will do or a complete menu of possible reforms.
What the survey asked—and what respondents chose
The Cato Institute/YouGov December 2025 Social Security National Survey asked respondents to choose between two outcomes: protect current retirees’ benefits even if younger workers pay higher taxes, or protect younger workers from higher taxes even if current retirees receive smaller benefits. The survey included 2,000 respondents and reported a margin of error of ±2.59%. The survey topline provides the primary source for its sample, margin of error and overall results.
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| Respondent group | Protect retirees’ benefits, even with higher taxes on younger workers | Protect younger workers from higher taxes, even with smaller retiree benefits |
|---|---|---|
| All adults | 69% | 31% |
| Adults age 65 and older | 89% | not stated for this option (FinanceBuzz, 2025) |
| Adults under 30 | 47% | 53% |
The age-group figures were reported by FinanceBuzz from the Cato Institute/YouGov survey. The 89% figure means nearly nine in ten respondents age 65 and older selected the retiree-benefit option; among adults under 30, a narrow majority selected the option shielding younger workers from higher taxes. FinanceBuzz’s report gives the age breakdown and survey framing.
How to interpret the generational divide
The results show how respondents chose between two stated costs when asked to make a direct trade-off. They do not show that every respondent had the same understanding of the choices, or that the two choices exhaust the policy options. Nor do they predict what people would support after seeing detailed estimates of how a particular reform would affect their taxes, benefits or retirement date.
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The age contrast is striking, but the poll alone cannot establish why the groups differ. A person’s age is not the same as their income, work history, expected benefits or views on the details of a specific proposal. The figures are preferences under the survey’s wording, not a verdict on which generation should pay or a measure of the costs each group would actually bear.
“Saving Social Security” does not require choosing only one side of the poll
The survey reduces a complicated financing debate to a choice between higher taxes on younger workers and smaller benefits for current retirees. Congress could instead consider different combinations of revenue changes and benefit adjustments, with different start dates and effects across workers and beneficiaries. The survey did not test each of these proposals individually.
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| Reform approach named in the reporting | Basic mechanism | Key distribution question |
|---|---|---|
| Raise payroll-tax rates | Increase the tax rate used to collect payroll-tax revenue. | How would the higher tax be divided between workers and employers, and when would it take effect? |
| Tax more earnings | Apply payroll taxes to a broader amount of wages. | Which workers would owe more, and how would the change be phased in? |
| Raise the full retirement age | Change the age at which a worker qualifies for their scheduled full retirement benefit. | Which cohorts would be affected, and how much notice would they receive? |
| Change the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) formula | Change how annual benefit adjustments are calculated. | How would the new formula affect benefits over time and across beneficiaries? |
These approaches differ in who pays, when changes begin and whether the system raises revenue, slows scheduled benefit growth or does both. Those distinctions matter: a broad preference for “higher taxes” or “smaller benefits” does not tell lawmakers which design, phase-in or combination the public would accept.
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In a June 10, 2026 account of the 2026 Trustees report, Cato Institute authors Emily Ekins and Jonah Messinger said the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) program was projected to reach insolvency in 2032, with automatic benefit cuts of 22% under then-current law. This is a dated projection reported by Cato, not a cut that has already occurred or a guarantee of what future law will be. Cato’s June 2026 discussion also revisits the survey results.
That projection provides context for why the cost question matters, but it is separate from the December 2025 poll. A projected shortfall does not by itself dictate a single fix, and the survey does not say how respondents would rank the reform choices Congress might weigh.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the question matters to workers and retirees
For workers, the policy debate concerns both the taxes paid during their careers and the benefits they may receive later. For current retirees, it concerns the benefits they rely on and the possibility that future law could change them. A poll that asks people to prioritize one group’s protection over another makes the political tension visible, but it cannot resolve the choices about timing, distribution or policy design that determine actual effects.
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Cato polling director Emily Ekins described the options starkly in a December 2025 report republished by The Spokesman-Review: “There are no good options on the table,” she said. “We only have a series of bad options.” The quote is reported by The Spokesman-Review’s December 17, 2025 article. The survey numbers make the divide in stated priorities clear; deciding who bears the costs would require choices more detailed than the poll’s two alternatives.
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