Americans more satisfied with Social Security, Medicare than most other issues facing US: poll

Forty-five percent of Americans in a new poll feel “satisfied” about the current state of Social Security and Medicare programs as both systems have emerged at the center of a heated battle among Republicans and Democrats in Congress.

While the number is not especially high, it shows that Americans are more content with those programs than many other issues currently at the center of national conversation, according to the Gallup poll released Friday.

Sixty-three percent of Americans over the age of 65 feel satisfied with the current state of Social Security and Medicare, according to the poll, while 43 percent of adults between the ages of 50 to 64 and 35 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 29 feel satisfied.

Gallup also found that the programs ranked sixth place among a list of 22 issues facing the country this year, behind 64 percent of Americans who feel “satisfied” with the nation’s military as the U.S. continues to support Ukraine.

But the poll also found 15 issues from Americans that were rated worse, with 72 percent being dissatisfied with the current state of the economy. Most Americans are far less worried about Social Security and Medicare as it is “not a major policy concern,” falling below issues affecting the economy.

Despite the ongoing discussion among policymakers on whether fixing Social Security and Medicare would be difficult, most Americans who benefit from both programs are currently satisfied as the public’s attention continues to grow on both systems.

The Gallup poll was conducted over the phone from Jan. 2-22 with a random sample of 1,011 adults. The sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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