The American Social Security System

On August 14, 1935 in Austin, Texas, President Franklin D. Roosevelt inked his signature on the Social Security Act. It was originally implemented to resolve problems with unemployment, old age insurance, and public health and welfare. The Great Depression was the catalyst for the creation of the Social Security program, and the basic structure was very similar to Germany’s social insurance programs from the 1880s. Today, social security is mostly used for retired senior citizens starting at the age of 62. At 62, American citizens can begin to collect, but will only receive 35% of their monthly benefit due, rather than the maximum amount of 50% when they reach the full retirement age of 66. (cite) In addition, social security is dispersed to about 14 million disabled people under the age of 62, who can no longer work in the labor force for various reasons. The people who qualify as disabled are just a small percentage of those collecting compared to senior citizens, and are often not mentioned when social security issues are brought up because of their minute effects on social security distribution.

The impact of all of these options are huge because they affect every American. The options provided here are the 6 biggest options when it comes to Social Security. Now that everyone knows what might happen, lets talk more about the when. In 2010, the amount of money coming in was to small to pay back to people. Interest from the trust bonds was collected to help aid in maintaining full benefits. As a temporary solution, shaving the interest off the bonds would have been a great fix, but the original problem still exists. Nothing has been done to balance the money in to money out ratio. Unless Congress makes some big calls, in 2020, the SSA will be forced to sell their bonds. With the interest already being collected, and now the bonds being sold, the amount of money earning interest would severely drop.

In 1930’s the Great Depression triggered a crises in the nation’s economic life. The Great Depression left millions of people unemployed and penniless. People consider leaving their farms behind to work in the cities factories to send money home. But as they grow into their new lifestyles the aging parent would stay behind to keep their dream of landowner ship. The seniors would be left in the hardest times of need living off the land. President Roosevelt’s New Deal was created to help jump-start the economy by providing unemployed workers with jobs and benefits packages for temporary relief. One of the many steps taken to alleviate the burden on the American people was the passing of Social Security Act on August 14, 1935 and its amendments by Congress and the President, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The first social security program did not form until 1935. After 1935 the civil war had ended but had left hundreds and thousands of widows and orphans as well as disabled veterans. Right after the war the rate of disabled veterans increased. Many people that were once bread winners had lost it all, which brought upon a generous pension plan. This pension plan had close similarities to the development of social security (Armstrong, 1932).

The Social Security Act of 1935 [H.R. 7260] was a bill that was signed on August 14, 1935 by President, Franklin D. Roosevelt. The act was established to help the elderly, disabled, or families who have lost a parent or spouse. The Social Security Act also known as SSA, was created to provide disadvantaged populations federal benefits. The act has a total of eleven titles ranging from the topics of the elderly, unemployed, child welfare, public health, and the blind. This paper will uncover what the Society Security was and how it contributed to the society. This paper will also cover the historical background, such as what problems led to the creation of this policy and if it was fixed by creating this act.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the countries first Social Security program in 1935 as a part of his New Deal Program. The United States was in the midst of the Great Depression and due to the stock market crash of 1929 and bank failures, many American’s retirement savings accounts were destroyed. As a result, the poverty rates among the elderly in the country were exceeding fifty percent (Achenbaum). In creating the countries first Social Security program, President Roosevelt was the first president to advocate federal assistance for the elderly, disabled, widowed, fatherless children (later changed to included motherless children,) and unemployed (Kessler-Harris).

The Social Security Administration is a great government administration that provides retirement and disability benefits to a large portion of the U.S. population. It was created by Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR). He created many new administration during the great depression to combat poverty such as the Works Progress Administration. Unlike the Works Progress Administration, on the Social Security Administration fights poverty through planning for the future rather than the now. The Administration themselves views themselves high as well, on their website they stated that the Social Security Administration is “one of the most successful anti-poverty programs in our nation's history”. The SSA could not have come at a better time than when it did during the great depression. It was crucial to the nation's future as to whether it would fall back down to its knees right as it got back up. The SSA protected us with retirement benefits which allow and help us plan for our retirement safely ensuring that we will have money when we can no longer work. This need for a retirement plan is exemplified by FDR’s speech to the N.Y. state legislature where he states “No greater tragedy exists in modern civilization than the aged, worn-out worker who after a life of ceaseless effort and useful productivity must look forward to his declining years to a poorhouse.” This is arguably the most useful part of the SSA.

The social security act was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt so that he could put in place provisions in order to help the elderly. The social security act a document that helps impoverished citizens, such as the elderly and physically impaired receive benefits after retirement. Citizens’ in America during the great depression where expected to work weather elderly or physically disabled. These citizens weren’t afforded the financial stability to retire so work was a necessity to acquire money. “Prior to social security, the elderly routinely faced the prospect of poverty upon retirement” (U.S SSA). This effect of the great depression led to a lot death and homes turning into singled parent homes with no income. “The widespread

     Social Security is a public program designed to provide income and services to individuals in the event of retirement, sickness, disability, death, or unemployment. In the United States, the word social security refers to the programs established in 1935 under the Social Security Act. Societies throughout history have devised ways to support people who cannot support themselves. In 1937 the government began issuing Social Security identification cards to all citizens. Each card had a unique number that the government used to keep track of a person’s earnings and the taxes collected from those earnings that went to finance Social Security benefits. The Social Security Act is an act in which

Roosevelt and his Economic Crisis Committee, in 1935, came up with the simple idea of providing benefits to the generation of retired workers from tax money of currently working generation. Roosevelt put this straightforward idea into the system to make it work, and it surprisingly has worked out well so far. When the bill became a law in 1935, there were many people who were affected by the Great Depression and sought financial aid. Unlike the bank money that goes in loans and still depositor have access to the money; Social Security System passes out collected money immediately into benefits (“Social Security System”). This way, the working generation will always provide enough money to the fund. Rather than providing money from government fund, idea of benefiting citizens from their own money didn’t receive

Roosevelt in 1935. The core content of the program was modeled after a similar practice that was prominent in Europe at the time; Europeans referred to it as Social Insurance. President Roosevelt believed a contributory system that allowed workers to play an active role in preparing for their future financial security through taxes paid in their working years, could help with the economic security problems of the Great Depression. In the years after it was passed in 1935, the United States Social Security program was the leading model for other world nation interested in implementing a social security system (SSA,

portion of the retiree’s income. In order to provide these benefits to retirees a 6.2% tax

The United States of America is one of the most diverse places in the world. We all share different cultures, beliefs, and problems; nevertheless, economic security is a universal, human problem that each society has had to encounter in some way. The term “social security” was introduced to the United States in 1935, during the Great Depression, when the Social Security Act was passed. Social security has created about 16 social welfare programs over the years. These programs were developed to give millions of Americans a sense of economic security and to show that the government cares about the well-being of their own. The most popular programs under the Social Security Act are Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) and Medicare and Medicaid Programs. These programs have greatly influenced the lives of many United States citizens and allow our people to feel secure.

Before the 1930’s, the care for the elderly was of family or local concern. Following the economic crash of the Great Depression, some of the many “dangers” in life, including poverty, unemployment, and old age, were faced head on through the actions of the New Deal. The New Deal, created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, set up a series of domestic programs to decrease unemployment rates and salvage what was left of the economy. The poverty rate of the elderly exceeded 50 percent and the stock market crash destroyed many Americans savings, thus the Social Security Act was created. This act provided aid to dependent children, unemployment and disability insurance, and pensions for the elderly. An issue with this system was that it might seem like a welfare program rather than an insurance program. To combat this issue, the social security funds would be from payroll taxes from employers and workers. Younger generations would finance the fund and would benefit from the system once they turned 65. Although this was a much-needed system, especially after the Great Depression, many still opposed this idea. People argued that this act would cause a loss of jobs and that it reeked of socialism. The argument was rebutted when proponents of the act proved how it would act as an incentive for the elderly to retire, thus creating more job openings for younger generations. A major downfall of this act rested on the shoulders of the women and

The Social Security System is in need of a new reform; our current system was not designed for the age stratification we have at this time. The U.S. Social Security Administration Office of Policy states, “The original Social Security Act, signed into law on August 14, 1935, grew out of the work of the Committee on Economic Security, a cabinet-level group appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt just one year earlier. The Act created several programs that, even today, form the basis for the government's role in providing income security, specifically, the old-age insurance, unemployment insurance, and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) programs.” Social Security was modeled to aid the elderly citizens, however during the