Per the U.S. Treasury, “Social Security benefits are generally redistributed intentionally toward lower-wage workers (i.e., benefits are progressive).” For example, a person who works for 44 years and earns $15,000/year will receive annual Social Security benefits equal to 16% of his lifetime payroll taxes. In contrast, a person who earns $70,000 will receive only 8%, and a person who earns $175,000 will receive just 5%. Due to the shorter average life expectancy of low-income people, they receive fewer years of benefits, but their lifetime benefit-to-tax ratio is still significantly larger than higher-income workers. Furthermore, low-income workers receive an effective refund of most of their Social Security taxes through the “earned income tax credit.”