The Effects of COVID-19 on the Social Security System: A Public Finance Perspective

Abstract

Currently, the country is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the Federal Government was forced to expand many of the programs under the Social Security Administration. During the height of the pandemic, government spending has increased to an obligation of 4.16 trillion. As the general public celebrated the booming economy of the mid and early 1920’s the economy appeared to grow at a steady rate of approximately 5%, while the unemployment rate at the time averaged around 4%. Because of this boom in the economy, many Americans moved into cities and began to invest heavily in the stock market and other nontraditional investments for the time that promised the greatest return on their investment.