By The Numbers - part the twenty eighth

So, the Rabid Radical Right Wingnuts have trotted out some musings by Sleepy Joe, circa 1984, which say, more or less, that Social Security must needs be 'reformed'. So what? The Big So is that the field of play for retirement for private sector workers was materially different then than it is now.

Eighty-two percent of the employees in the survey were covered by private retirement pension plans, with the employer paying the entire cost.

70% of those covered had defined benefit plans, aka the pension was a function of earnings.

In 2020, life is rather different

Sixty-seven percent of private industry workers had access to employer-provided retirement plans in March 2020. Fifty-two percent had access only to defined contribution retirement plans. An additional 12 percent had access to both defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans, while 3 percent had access only to defined benefit retirement plans.

So, overall, SS makes up a significant portion of retirement moolah now than it did in 1984. Note, carefully, that last phrase - 3 percent get a defined benefit; aka similar to what a 1984 worker had.

And that 401(k)? That's categorized as a retirement plan; employers may kick in some moolah, but are not required to.

The employer is not responsible to contribute any specific amount to the employee; each agreement is situational according to the workplace.
-- the wiki

So, when Sleepy Joe talked about SS in 1984, SS was an addition for most workers. These days, not so much.