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African-Americans and Reform
November 13th 10:23:49 PM
From the Holy Cross Crusader's article about S4's Erin Robert:
Because the average income for African Americans is lower than the average income for whites, they fare relatively better under the current system in terms of the amount of benefits they receive versus the amount of income they earn, as do all lower income earners regardless of race. The problem lies in the fact that the average life expectancy for African Americans is also lower. As Robert puts it, "You can't collect if you're dead." Many African Americans who put money into the system never live long enough to collect fully on the benefits they have earned.
In her research, Robert found a strong correlation between wealth and mortality rate; those with more wealth, or money set aside in investment opportunities, tended to live longer. This statistic also reflects the availability of adequate heath care to different groups according to their amount of disposable income. She noted that the accumulation of wealth in assets invested in the stock market would help African Americans, because the money they earn over the years can be passed down to their families should they die before the age at which they would be able to collect Social Security.
Robert believes that this would help ensure that future generations are able to afford adequate health care and, therefore, live longer. Under Social Security as it now stands, those funds go back into the system and the families never see any of the benefits the deceased earned with the deduction from his or her weekly paycheck.
Posted by Chris Schrimpf
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