The Social Security System During The Great Depression

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.

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).

Medicare and Medicaid, created by the Social Security Amendment Act 1965, added Title XVIII and XIX to the Social Security Act. President Lyndon B Johnson was responsible for bringing about this change. Social Security Program started during the Great Depression of 1930s because of the stock market crash and bank failure, which wiped away the retirement savings of the Americans. Poverty rate among senior citizen exceeded 50% during this time. Social Security Act was created in an attempt to limit the five dangers of modern American Society. The Social Security Act was

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

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

FDR intended to provide for the general welfare of people aged of 65 or over. The plan provides for disabled citizens, widows, widowers and their children under the age of 18. The Social Security plan took effect in 1935; it was not until 1940 that the first Social Security check was issued. FDR had an alternative motive by creating the Social Security system the program was an attempt get older workers to retire and out of the workforce thus providing job opportunities for younger workers.

I woke up around five o’clock in the morning I was hearing gossip that the stock market crashed and how all our money is gone,so I rushed straight down to the bank and there was a huge riot that was occurring in front of the bank.There were a bunch of policemen hitting civilians with nightsticks and releasing tear gas. I had to leave immediately so I would not get involved in that riot.The next hour or so,many people were selling their valuable items such as cars,jewelry,and even their own children.Before this depression,people refused to go on government welfare except as a last resort. I saw that the newspapers published the names of all those who received welfare payments, and people thought of welfare as a disgrace.

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

During the depression, approximately 50% of senior citizens lived in poverty. Like many Americans appalled at the sight of fellow citizens living their final years in poverty after a lifetime of hard work, FDR believed that a nation as prosperous and advanced as the U.S. should not allow retired citizens to suffer poverty. It protects citizens from poverty during retirement, and provides temporary relief for involuntary unemployed Americans and families seeking new jobs- a program known as Unemployment Insurance. The funds for Social Security are collected from every paycheck-worker and employers split the tax contributions that the government collects. After age 62, citizens receive a monthly pension check back from the government.

Throughout the 1800`s welfare history continued when there were attempts to reform how the government do business with the poor and extreme need. Some changes tried to help the poor move to work rather than continuing to need assistance. Social casework, consisting of caseworkers visiting the poor and training them in standards and a work ethic was supported by reformers in the 1880s and 1890s. Prior to the Great Depression, the U.S. Congress supported various programs to assist the poor. When the Great Depression hit, many families suffered. It was supposed that one-fourth of the labor force was unemployed during the worst part of the depression. With many families suffering financial difficulties, the government stepped in to solve the problem and that is where the history of welfare as we know it really began. Under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Social Security Act was accomplish in 1935. The act, which was amended in 1939, established a number of programs designed to provide benefits to various sections of the population Unemployment benefits and originally Aid Dependent Children are two programs that still exist

The statement , shown above is considered true. Thanks to President Roosevelt, he has ended the Great Depression called the New Deal. After passing the Wagner Act, congress began to work on one of America’s most important pieces of legislation. This is called the Social Security Act. The Social Security Act provided unemployed workers for security/ protection. While the legislation provided welfare payment to other needy people such as, people with disabilities, and poor mothers with dependent children. This New Deal has helped so many types of people during the Great Depression.

Social Security Act was part of the FDR’s New Deal program. Social Security was initially a retirement program and later added survivors and disability insurance, and Medicare. (Shiller 258) Social Security is an important program in the U.S., especially for the elderly. As the elderly age, their health care expenses tend to get bigger as they age. This program is not designed to prevent poverty, it is designed to be a social insurance for the elderly. People become eligible to receive benefits only if they have worked for a certain amount of years and paid payroll taxes. Social Security has helped prevent poverty in the United States. In 2005, around 10% of older Americans were considered to be poor with Social Security, without Social Security the amount of elderly Americans in poverty would be around 49%. Beneficiaries are dependent of the social insurance as it accounts for a big portion of their total income when they are retired. From age 65 to 69, 27% of total income for beneficiaries comes from Social Security. Ages 70 to 74 38% of total income comes from Social Security benefits, ages 75 to 79 46%, and ages 80 plus 53%. Therefore, as beneficiaries become older, they begin to rely more and more Social Security benefits as a source of

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