Most Americans are certain Social Security will go bankrupt but are not ready to embrace changes that would shore up the system's finances, according to two survey's by The Washington Post, the Henry Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University.

Seven in 10 Americans agree with President Bush that Social Security eventually will go bankrupt if Congress fails to act, though most predict that the system will not do so for at least two decades. Yet while Bush has warned of a crisis in Social Security, barely one in four Americans believe that a crisis exits.

More broadly, the polls raise serious doubts about wheather Americans are willing to make the choices necessary to fix the system's financial problems. Solid majorities reject both increases in payroll taxes and decreases in retirement benefits, except for the wealthy. Experts agree that without new revenue coming in or less flowing out as benefits or both the Social Security system will not be able to pay all its promised benefits perhaps as early as 2042.