64 Daniel Schiff
16. B. Sotah 14a.
17. Levine A., Economics and Jewish Law— Halakhic Perspectives(New York : Ktav Publishing House, Incorporated, 1987), p. 114
21. T amari M., With All Your Possessions— Jewish Ethics and Economic Life (Northvale: Jason Aronson Incorporated, 1998), pp. 249-250. See also, Sinclair Y., “Welfare: Universal or Means- Tested Benefits?” Business Ethics Center of Jerusalem, http://www.besr.org/library/universal.html.
22. Social Security Administration Publication Number 05-10024, January 2005, “Understanding the Benefits,” http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/1 0024 html.
23. Ibid.
24. As one analyst described it:
In providing retirement and life insurance, Social Security redistributes income from high lifetime earners to low lifetime earners. A few hypothetical cases—taken from the 2002 trustees’ report—illustrate Social Security's redistribution process. A worker who earned average wages over his or her career and retired at age 65 in 2005 will receive annual Social Security benefits equal to 45% of his or her average annual earnings. Social Security would replace 57% of the average annual earnings of a low-earning worker (who earned 50% of the average earnings), and 38% of the average annual earnings of a high-earnings worker(who earned 50% more than average). So, while high-earning workers receive more money in their Social Security checks, they receive a smaller portion of their earnings.
25. See:“Frequently Asked Questions about Social Security,” Economic Policy Institute, May 2005, at
http://www.epinet.org/content.cfim/issueguide_socialsecurityfaq.
25. Levine, op. cit.,p. 135.