Cato Poll Shows Majority Support Personal Accounts

Cato Poll Shows Majority Support Personal Accounts

A majority of likely voters (52-40%) favor proposals to allow younger workers the choice to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in personal accounts, according to a new poll conducted by Zogby International for the Cato Institute. Younger voters support the chance to invest by an enormous majority (66-23% among voters under 30).

The poll also found that Americans believe that opponents of President Bush's Social Security reform proposals have an obligation to put forward an alternative plan to solve the financial crisis that is about to engulf the current system. By an overwhelming 70-22% margin, voters said that Democrats should come up with proposals of their own. Even 55% of Democrats believe this.

Americans are highly skeptical that the current Social Security system will be able to cope in the near future. By a 62-30% margin, voters do not believe that Social Security will be able to pay all promised future benefits. Unsurprisingly, skepticism is particularly strong among younger voters with over 70% believing that Social Security will be unable to pay the benefits promised by the federal government.

As in past polling undertaken by Zogby International for the Cato Institute, the most important reason given by reform supporters for backing personal accounts is the strongly held belief that payroll tax contributions belong to the people paying them and that it is their money and they should be allowed to control it. This view was true for every ethnic and age group polled, except African-Americans, who chose inheritability as their biggest reason for supporting personal accounts.

The poll also found a significant red state/blue state divide. Voters living in red states support personal accounts by a 57-36% margin. Blue state voters are more closely split, supporting accounts by only 48-44%. Significantly independents support accounts (55-33%) as do self-described moderates (though by a narrow, 48-45% margin). Of major note, 53% of union workers supported personal accounts.

Older voters are less supportive of Social Security reform, with opposition hardening the older voters become. Voters over 65 years old oppose the introduction of personal accounts by 52-40%; those over 70 by 55-38%.

"This poll reflects three realities," said Mike Tanner, director of Cato's Project on Social Security Choice. "First, Americans understand the current Social Security system is in need of reform. Second, that allowing people the opportunity to own their retirement savings should be a fundamental component to any reform plan. And finally, doing nothing is not an option."

The poll of 1,006 likely voters was conducted May 23-25, and has a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percent.

To view the poll, visit: http://www.cato.org/pubs/zogbycrosstabs.pdf