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The United States Social Security Act 1935
The United States Social Security Act 1935
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Abstract
Several initiatives offering income protection against income loss in the United States
draw their origins from the Social Security Act of 1935. The program on the United States
Social Security offers significant conservation against losing earnings in the event of death,
disability, or retirement of citizens. The Social Security Act of 1935 gave quick insurance
protection against the unemployed population, insurance protection for the aging population,
and several welfare initiatives that were closely assessed by strict means. The Social Security
Act of 1935 was highly catalyzed by the Great Depression, and a number of its provisions
were aimed at bringing relief to the American population affected adversely by the Great
Depression. However, the establishment of the Old-Age Insurance Initiative was not built to
cater for the financial setbacks of that period. Nonetheless, the original act did not give room
for monthly payments until the dawn of 1942. The original Social Security Act clearly
operated under major principles such as benefiting workers who get accidents in their lines of
duty, insurance cover against unemployment, financial assistance for the visually impaired,
assistance for unable mothers and their children, and lastly, aid for the population living with
physical disabilities.
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Introduction
Economic constraints have been a major challenge both in historical moments and
modern times, and there has been a need to make it right. The Social Security Initiative of the
United States is basically a program that was established to prevent cases of United States
citizens from losing their revenues in case of several events. The occasions were in case one
had an accident when executing their daily roles at their workplaces, in case one reached their
retirement age, and last in the event of death. The original Social Security Act became
effective as a legal law on August 14, 1935, and it was established by the committee
appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt to oversee economic matters in 1934 following the
Great Depression in America. The United Social Act of 1935 brought about communal
protection, net income protection to the aged on state levels, financial push to the American
citizens living with disabilities, and also offer assistance to the unemployed groups in the
United States. However, the key objective of the first Social Security Act was to reciprocate
financial well-being to pensionaries aged 65 and above regarding their tax contributions
during their working ages (Davies & Derthick, 1997). It is evident that the Social Security
Act of 1935 also put in place the Social Security Board, which was then renamed to Social
Security Administration to oversee the effectiveness of the original Social Security Act and
what was necessary for bringing it to operation. It can be noted that a significant percentage
of the American population has benefitted financially from the act since its implementation.
However, the Social Security Act has also faced drawbacks and hick-ups throughout its
existence and has created political unrest in the United States for a significant period. This
paper looks into the history of the American Social Security Act, the original design, its
reforms, and future changes which would be ideal for the effectiveness of the act.
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with a bigger percentage of its population being the old. History records several communities
making efforts to solve this problem through different strategies, but most of them with
unstable economies have ended up depending on wealthier regions for assistance. Following
the dawn of the 17th Century, England put in place slightly weaker laws and policies to cater
for its less fortunate populations. The Pilgrims brought with them these laws to the Modern
world, and finally, colonial governments established laws to take care of the helpless creating
boundaries on who should receive defined categories of assistance and who should not. The
most common form of public aid was outdoor relief which gave people finances so as to stay
out of poor living conditions. Living conditions in most parts of the United States were
disgraceful following the mid of the 19th Century. Nonetheless, staggering economic
situations placed the government in a constant struggle to balance this challenge. The Great
Depression contributed to the enactment of the Social Security Act of 1935 in the U.S.
Reports issued by the Social Security Act Administration Commission stated that there were
four significant changes that led to the prohibition of the original security laws. These four
changes were: Urbanization of American regions, the Great Industrial Revolution, the gradual
disappearance of the extended family set-ups, and the more elongated life expectancies
Before the Industrial Revolution, many people practiced agriculture, and this
sustained them through hard times. In addition, these extended families would establish their
settlements collectively on family-owned farms and solved their challenges together as they
grew older. The spread of the Industrial Revolution convinced people to move to the urban
areas in search of jobs; however, many of them were rendered jobless due to constant job lay-
offs and cessation. The American urbanization also saw many families helpless in
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maintaining their living conditions as several of their members had moved to urban centers to
look for formal employment. The life expectancy and sanitary conditions in America
gradually improved alongside the overall living conditions, and this meant that many people
were aging. The Great Depression later left people unemployed and found it challenging to
feed their families. This unfortunate event affected mainly the aged population and impacted
negatively on the states that had passed policies to financially protect the old population.
These already established laws were not that conducive after all because they were poorly
managed, experienced a shortage of funds, and in other cases, ignored by the officials
(Heidenheimer, 2017). The elders who benefited from the original programs received only 65
cents a day. The impacts of the Great Depression were too intense, and this made
governments and other private sectors seek more effective strategies for economical
protection for the citizens. Some plans targeted the overall population, while others aimed at
helping the aged population. Not a single of them was passed as a law but later raised an urge
Several plans depended on private and government entities and wealthier well-wishers
until Franklin Roosevelt became president. He modified a couple of ideas from Europe’s
rulebook for economic conservation and established his own idea for economic security.
President Roosevelt suggested that people’s earnings be deducted as tax so as to cater for
their future financial needs (Heidenheimer et al., 2017). His idea was recommended that the
working population contributes to the initiative and fund monthly allowances given to the
(CEO) purposely to come up with an economic conservation law. The commission led by the
Secretary in charge of labour, Frances Perkins, came up with the Social Security Act intended
to relieve people of their economic worries throughout their lives. The bill issued by the
commission advocated for: Pension program to cater for the elderly, unemployment insurance
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cover financed by employers, medical insurance covers for poor people, financial support for
widows having children, and financial aid for people living with disabilities (Douglas, 2000).
President Roosevelt signed the bill into law on August 14, 1935, and this meant that the
federal government would cater for the economic concerns of its citizens.
completed a form through their postal office and were later sent a national ID with unique
figures. Within a period of four months, 26million citizens had registered for the program and
are still being used to date to keep a record of people’s incomes and financial privileges.
The Original Social Security Act of the United States was effective under some
conditions, and this was before Franklin Roosevelt came to the presidency. In the dawn of
1862, several American war veterans, their widows, and other orphans were eligible to claim
veteran pensions from the government (Douglas et al., 2000). In 1890, the original act was
rectified to give room for veterans disabled by the civil war disputing how the veterans were
disabled. In 1906, the law was further rectified to cater for the aged population as a principle
in the United States of America. Pension plans issued by companies later surfaced in 1882
when employees of the Alfred Dolge company first received their pensions. Many employing
companies adopted the pension plan, but there were other companies that never gave their
employees even a single cent for their pensions. It is evident that several companies could not
survive the economic constraint even before pension plans became an important factor at that
Several revisions have been made to the act since its inception. For example, in the
start, monthly payments were scheduled to begin on January 1, 1942. Individuals who
reached 65 years of old before that date received a huge amount of money. Another
amendment was passed on August 10, 1940, and this was to take the monthly date to January
1, 1940. The other amendment was to make dependents and survivors of retirees eligible for
the program. Another amendment was made in 1950, and this was to make farmers, non-
agricultural self-employed people, and other federal workers eligible for the social security
initiative (Heidenheimer et al., 2017). The revised program also covered federal and state
workers and many other non-employed workers in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Several other revisions were made, and which included approving Social Security
The amendment of the Social Security Act of 1965 also covered medical expenses of people
above 65 years of age and above (Davies & Derthick et al., 1997).
Future Reforms Which Would Be Ideal for the Social Security Act
The Social Security Act has brought relief to the people of America, and others have
relied on it as the sole source of earning. However, it still faces some setbacks, which, when
One, raising the age of retirement to around 70-75years of age would reduce the rate
at which retirees claim their pension plans at later ages. Many retirees claiming their pensions
at later ages create a strain in meeting all of their financial needs, and so raising retirement
ages will give more room for the government to meet all of their financial demands later after
retirement. Two, the government can raise the taxes paid by the working population. Raising
payroll tax charges will enable the government to cater for the increasing number of retirees
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each year. Lastly, the government can invest the tax deductions into the stock markets. The
stoke market is a fast-growing entity, and this will ensure economic security for the
Economic challenges have been a major problem since historical moments to date,
and there have been efforts to solve this challenge since then. The United States faced
financial setbacks following the Great Depression and suffered long-term loss and shortage of
funds both by the general population and the aged population. However, President Franklin
Roosevelt established the tax deduction tax system and is effective to date in planning for the
elderly population in their financial demands in the future days to come. However, the
original economic security program has undergone several amendments since its inception,
one of which is covering medical expenses of the aged in their retirement periods. Some of
the adjustments that can be made to solve the pitfalls of the act are increasing tax deductions
References
Davies, G., & Derthick, M. (1997). Race and social welfare policy: The Social Security Act
Douglas, P. H. (2000). Social Security in the United States: An analysis and appraisal of the
Routledge.