National Urban League President Hugh B. Price Urges Bush Commission on Social Security Reform to Protect the Economic Security of Children

New York, NY, May 3, 2001–Hugh B. Price, president of the National Urban League, today issued an open letter to the co-chairs of President Bush’s newly appointed bipartisan commission on Social Security overhaul, requesting that they examine with diligence the results of a National Urban League report commissioned last year on the effects of Social Security on Child Poverty.

The open letter was sent today to Richard Parsons, the Co-Chief Operating Officer of AOL/Time Warner, and former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. In his letter, Mr. Price points out that according to a study by the National Urban League Institute on Opportunity and Equality, ‘Social Security lifts one million American children entirely out of poverty; and staves off extreme poverty for millions more youngsters.’

"Though much of the focus on social security privatization rests on its being a retirement program, less well-known, but of critical importance, is the fact that Social Security, as it exists, is an effective and efficient anti-poverty program that provides an economic safety net for children reared in households that are missing a primary wage-earner due to the death or disability of a parent," said Price.

"President Bush and his newly appointed commission, must reject any reform measures that will place at risk the economic status of underage Social Security beneficiaries," Price added.

The National Urban League study, released last May, is entitled ‘The Impact of Social Security on Child Poverty. The League’s Institute for Opportunity and Equality found that of the lowest income families with children in 1998, namely those earning up to $21,188, 63% of white families in this category would be in poverty but for Social Security benefits, as would 71% of black families and 75% of Latino households in this group.

President Bush’s commission on Social Security reform was formally introduced on Wednesday, May 2^nd, 2001. The President directed commission members to examine alternatives and report back to him in the fall with specific plans for privatizing the anti-poverty program.

Attached is a copy of the Open Letter to the Commission’s co-chairs. For a copy of the National Urban League Study, ‘The Impact of Social Security on Child Poverty,’ please contact Ayanna Hill at (212) 558-5319.