The Social Security Act Of 1935

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 Social Security Act of 1935, signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, created a program that included social insurance programs, as well as public assistance. Both programs came about due to the depression and were created as part of the New Deal to benefit the citizens who needed assistance. While both programs were created to assist the public, each program had different eligibility requirements and accomplished different tasks.

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.

Lastly, the Social Security Act was one of many reform efforts that sprung from the New Deal. This act was an attempt to provide general welfare for women and their children, those with disabilities such as blindness, older individuals, and public health, and helped financially support them while they were looking for work elsewhere. It was most common with elderly individuals, as they received what is known as “old-age pensions.” This was one of the few reforms that has stayed with us since the New Deal, and was economically successful in bringing America out of the Great

The Social Security Act was a program meant to attract money from citizens, but ensuring they they will get something in return (Doc D). This act collected money from citizens, and when they turn 65 years old, are able to collect money back in the form of monthly checks. FDR’s point of view in creating this act was that people will be more likely to put their money into something that they know will reward them back in the future. As a result, Social Security money was put back in the economy and helped decrease the amount of debt that the United States was in. According to William Lloyd Garrison in 1934, the government was putting enormous amounts of money into public relief and public works projects that expanded throughout the country (Doc C). This policy, known as the Works Progress Administration (WPA), created jobs for improving infrastructure such as repairing roads and building more buildings. This improved employment in America and helped people gain money back through these new jobs. A graph of Unemployment from 1927-1947 serves a purpose for showing the pattern of unemployment from before and after the Depression (Doc G). Unemployment decreased in 1934, the same year the government started these public work projects, which proves that the WPA policy was effective in creating positive

A landmark change in providing for the elderly came in 1935 with Franklin D. Roosevelt 's Social Security Act. While this provided aid to people with disabilities and mothers with children, aid was also mainly intended for the elderly. The premise of the act was that an individual would pay into the government through the years that they worked and upon retiring that person would receive benefits. Elderly Americans relied on this system to help pay for expenses that they might incur after they reached an age where they could no

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

Finally, after almost a half a decade into the Great Depression in 1935 President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his administration suggested to Congress that a consistent federal social welfare program was needed in the United States of America. The president’s new deal would give work relief to those citizens in financial need. On August 14th, 1935 the Social Security Act was passed as a bill by Congress. The bill was eventually enforced by the year 1939 just a few years before the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States was about to enter World War II.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935 as a means to battle the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Beginning in 1932, the government had started providing

The Social Security Act (SSA) of 1935 was drafted during the Great Depression as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. The SSA was an attempt to limit what were seen as dangers in the American life, including old age, poverty,

signed into law the Social Security Act. This was a federal retirement program for people

August 14, 1935, social security was made official when President Roosevelt signed the Social Security act. Social Security was designed to help support Americans after the world war one. It gave citizens a sense of stability. It provided a retirement plan and other benefits to u.s citizens including disability. Today, social security has moved from being extra help, to a fundamental need. Many times we see people who have nothing accept social security to provide them an income. We can look through the system and even find whole families on benefits. Yes, a lot of these families need the extra help, but social security is supposed to be of help, and not to provide every penny to families. Social security, and welfare

“All peoples throughout all of human history have faced the uncertainties brought on by unemployment, illness, disability, death and old age. In the realm of economics, these inevitable facets of life are said to be threats to one 's economic security”- (www. ssa.gov). The 1935 Social Security Act was a giant step towards creating an economic security for the nation. However, as a person who has yet to be in the work force for 10 years I have already begun to realize that my comfort in retirement cannot rely on government funding, there are those whoever, who will rely entirely on that funding. Due to the differences in people’s willingness to take their futures under their own control, I would suggest reform in the fashion of partial privatization. Without this reform Social Security will not survive into the 21st century.

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