Illegal Immigration Saved Social Security #
April 2nd, 2008 | In Worth Considering
I’ve heard this argument made before, but never seen it in print. Now the New York Times editorial board has printed it.
The result is a substantial increase in the number of working-age people paying taxes, but a relatively smaller increase in the number of retirees who receive benefits — a double boon to Social Security’s bottom line.
We’re not talking chump change. According to the report, the taxes paid by other-than-legal immigrants will close 15 percent of the system’s projected long-term deficit. That’s equivalent to raising the payroll tax by 0.3 percentage points, starting today.