Growth in Retiring Baby Boomers Strains U.S. Welfare Programs

The retiring baby boomer generation is putting the squeeze on U.S. senior welfare programs, with trustees for Social Security noting the program is dipping into its trust fund for the first time since 1982 to cover benefits, reports the Wall Street Journal . In addition, growing employee pension costs have forced states to reduce spending on programs like education and healthcare. The Pew Charitable Trusts estimates that state pension funds had $2.6 trillion in assets to pay for liabilities of $4 trillion in FY 2016. The gap between assets and liabilities has risen $295 billion year over year partly because of investments falling short of states' expectations. Furthermore, new census numbers show concentrations of rapidly graying counties in the Northeast, Upper Midwest, and across southern and western coastal areas that attract retirees. Florida is the state with highest age-dependency ratio, with 34 retiree-aged people for every 100 of working age. Washington, D.C., has the lowest ratio at 17, followed by Alaska, Utah, and Texas at 17, 18, and 20, respectively. A flattening in the U.S. birth rate since the 2007-2009 recession is increasing the country's reliance on immigrants to slow its aging. But the concurrent immigration crackdown could undermine that dynamic in the future.