SCE PUBLIC POLICY SURVEY
August Survey: More Consumers Expect Decreases in Federal Benefits, Higher Age to Claim Social Security
- Average expectations of decreases in housing assistance, federal student aid, federal welfare benefits, and Medicare all continued their upward trend in August and reached new series highs.
- The average perceived likelihood of an increase in the age to claim Social Security benefits sharply increased to 44.3 percent, a series high.
- The average perceived likelihood of decreases in the capital gains tax, the mortgage interest deduction, the payroll tax, the average income tax rate, and the income tax rate for the highest bracket all retreated slightly in August.
- The average perceived likelihood of a decrease in unemployment benefits increased to 38.2 percent in August from 34.4 percent in April. This is the highest reading of the series since its start in November 2015.
Editor’s Note: We are currently working through some technical issues in the interactive charts regarding the display of dates along the x-axis. As a result, data for November 2015-2016 are currently not presented in the interactive charts; data for all years remain available to download, however.
About:
The SCE Public Policy Survey is fielded every four months as a rotating module of the Survey of Consumer Expectations (SCE). The data are updated online as results come in.
