A celebration Thursday morning at the Lanakila Multi-Purpose Senior Center included cake to mark the 90th anniversary of the country’s Social Security program. Members of the Hawaiʻi congressional delegation were invited to the party.
The Conversation got the chance to talk to Kealiʻi Lopez, head of AARP Hawaii, about what many consider a lifeline for so many kūpuna.
"In Hawaiʻi alone, it's lifted 49,000 kūpuna, 65 and older, out of poverty every year," Lopez said. "AARP is wanting to celebrate and bring attention to it, mostly because, as we talked about on your last show, the trust will be running out of its reserve. Again, we want to make sure people know payments are still going to be made. However, protecting Social Security is an ongoing issue that we cannot really rest easily to assume it's going to be something that's available for years to come."
AARP and the congressional delegation work together to advocate for Social Security at the federal level.
Lopez said that about 1 in 5 residents, or over 282,500 people in Hawaiʻi, receive Social Security benefits.
"Whether they're a child of a parent who's passed, someone with disabilities, kupuna who's retired, it's just a wide range of people who depend on Social Security," she added. "And sadly, about 28% of those on Social Security rely on it for 50% of their monthly income. Another 12% rely on it for 90% of their income. Again, if you can imagine a little less than $2,000 being 90% of your income living in Hawaiʻi, that's not going to get you very far, but that is still a lifeline that people have available to them."
In its 90 years, Social Security has never missed a payment, and Lopez hopes that Social Security will be around for many decades to come.
To help mark the anniversary, cities across the nation are being lit up in red and white lights. In Hawaiʻi, Honolulu Hale and the Maui County building will be lit up in a skyline salute to Social Security. AARP's Pledge to Fight for Social Security can be found here.
This story aired on The Conversation on Aug. 14, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m.
