Essay 14- Entitlement

 2006-2 In recent decades, entitlement programs have constituted a substantial portion of the United States federal budget. Social Security is the largest entitlement program in the US. From the information in the chart above, and your knowledge of the US government and politics, perform the following tasks.
(a) define entitlement program
(b) What is the primary source of revenue for the Social Security program
(c) Identify one threat to the future of the Social security program should the trends depicted in the chart continue
(d) Describe on demographic trend that threatens the future of the Social Security program and explain how it is responsible for the threat that you identified in (c )
(e) Explain how any one of the trends in the chart above would change if the age of eligibility for social security were raised.




Since the formation of social welfare and entitlement programs, it has been a huge expense to our economic system as a country. Entitlement programs are government benefits that certain qualified individuals are entitled to by law, regardless of need. The purpose of programs like this is to provide relief to those who need help to make ends meet or to those who are entitled.

As social securities and welfare continue to be a factor in the budget of every American, it becomes even more important to consider it's lasting availability. The trend of people relying on their social security may not be an option in the future, as our government will not be able to afford to pay everyone's benefits. Another trend of the graph shows that as spending has increased, the amount of money available for social security has gone down.

The current trend is to rely primarily on social security after retirement. If the age requirement for social security went up, people would have to wait to take out social security and might learn not to rely on it as much. This would also help the government and make them able to cover everyone's social security benefits.
Rubric: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/_ap06_gopo_us_sg.pdf