Most Expect to Give More Than They Receive, Poll FindsBy ALLISON KOPICKI

February 11, 2012


Most Expect to Give More Than They Receive, Poll FindsBy ALLISON KOPICKI

A majority of Americans say they expect to pay more in federal taxes over their lifetime than they will ever receive in benefits from the government, according to a recent New York Times poll. At the same time, the taxes Americans pay today are not keeping pace with the growing costs of government.



Medicare is the program projected to add the most to federal spending over the next decade, likely increasing the government’s annual budget deficits. But only one in five Americans surveyed named Medicare as the fastest-growing benefits program. From a number of choices, 27 percent identified programs for the poor, 17 percent said unemployment benefits and programs, 14 percent said Social Security and 5 percent named veterans’ benefits. Twenty-two percent named Medicare.



Most Americans realize that the taxes they pay during their working years may not be enough to cover either their Medicare or Social Security benefits. But a majority of those surveyed, 55 percent, also said they would pay more in taxes than they would ever get back from the government in benefits.



In follow-up interviews, some respondents said that was because their tax dollars were also paying for government programs that did not benefit them directly, like foreign aid, the military and assistance for the poor. Some also said government waste contributed to their pessimism.



Majorities of Americans also say Social Security and Medicare will not be there for them when they reach retirement. Nearly three-fourths of those under 45 do not expect Medicare to provide benefits for them, and more than two-thirds of these younger Americans said Social Security would not have money available for their retirement years.



That pessimism is another likely reason that 6 in 10 Americans under the age of 45 said the taxes they pay over their lifetime would exceed the benefits they would receive.



Those who currently receive benefits from the government were more likely than others to say their taxes would match what they receive in benefits.



To keep Medicare solvent, a majority of Americans favor raising taxes or premiums rather than reducing benefits. When asked to choose just one proposal to reduce the program’s deficit, 37 percent said they supported higher taxes on current workers, and 22 percent supported increasing the premiums paid by current recipients. Just 16 percent supported reducing benefits for future recipients, and 8 percent endorsed reducing benefits of current Medicare recipients.



Eighty-five percent agreed that increasing taxes on the wealthy should play a role in reducing the overall federal deficit, and three in five said it should play a major role. Seventy percent also favored raising taxes on all Americans, although only 32 percent said this should play a major role.



And 56 percent favored cuts in Medicare and Social Security; only 20 percent said this should play a major role.



The poll was conducted from Dec. 14 to 18 among 992 adults nationwide and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.