Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate confirmed that the issue of Social Security reform isn’t going away. But missing from the debate is some important context: The good life for senior citizens has never been better. Newly released Federal Reserve data reveal that seniors’ financial well-being is the best in U.S. history. Private markets and individual initiative, not Social Security, have been the driving forces behind seniors’ high income and wealth.

We used the Federal Reserve data to analyze four decades of income growth. We found that the inflation-adjusted income of the median household headed by someone 65 or older rose by 94% from 1982 to 2021. The increase was nearly three times the 35% increase among younger households.