"Although efforts to reform Social Security seem to have reached an impasse, the long-term problem - the projected Social Security deficit - remains. In Pension Puzzles, sociologists Melissa Hardy and Lawrence Hazelrigg explain for a general audience the fiscal challenges facing Social Security and explore the larger political context of the Social Security debate. Drawing together economic analyses, public opinion data, and historical narratives, Pension Puzzles is a guide to the major proposals for Social Security reform. It is also an exploration of what debate reveals about American political culture in the twenty-first century."--BOOK JACKET.