The Past, Present and Future of Social Security Essays

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.

The Social Security system is perhaps the most successful government social insurance program in the nation 's history; and began with the Social Security Act in 1935. Social Security is a needed federal system that encourages income stability to millions of people across the United States. This is accomplished by giving a stable flow of income to replenish lost wages that occur as a result of disability, retirement, or death of a family member. There are about 59 million people in the U.S. that receive Social Security. Most of them are the required 65 years of age or older. Sadly about half of the 59 million people rely solely on Social Security to pay their bills and everyday necessities.

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

One of the reforms created through the New Deal that still exists today is Social Security. Social Security was established through the Social Security Act of 1935 by Franklin D. Roosevelt. It established a national pension fund, a public assistance program for dependent mothers and disabled people, an unemployment insurance system, as well as benefits for victims of industrial accidents (Social Security Act of 1935). Social Security is very beneficial regarding its ability to help those who need it, but it is also the largest federal program today, resulting in huge expenses. CNS News published an article regarding the spending of the Social Security Administration, and stated in the article is, “The Social Security Administration spent a total

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

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

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

In the early 1930’s the United States was building its industrial base. During this time a large number of American workers became dependent on wage income. Due to the dependency of wages older American workers generally bore the blunt of economic downturns. In addition to, many individuals lost wages due to disabilities and death; also retirements were not adequately planned for (Martin & Weaver, 2005). Hence the Great Depression occurred and political interest grew in the realm of social insurance plans and services. Thus the Great Depression was the catalyst for the creation of the Social Security Act.

Welfare has been a safety net for many Americans, when the alternative for them is going without food and shelter. Over the years, the government has provided income for the unemployed, food assistance for the hungry, and health care for the poor. The federal government in the nineteenth century started to provide minimal benefits for the poor. During the twentieth century the United States federal government established a more substantial welfare system to help Americans when they most needed it. In 1996, welfare reform occurred under President Bill Clinton and it significantly changed the structure of welfare. Social Security has gone through significant change from FDR’s signing of the program into law to President George W. Bush’s

     There is much-heated debate on the issues of Social Security today. The Social Security system is the largest government program of income distribution in the United States. People are concerned that they won't see a dime of what they worked so hard to contribute into the Social Security system for so many years. Social Security provides benefits to about forty-three million Americans. Not only to retired workers, but also to their spouses and dependents of the workers who die prematurely. It also provides benefits to disabled workers and their dependents. Social Security appears to most people like a simple retirement saving’s account. After all, you generally

The term "social security" has its origin in the welfare policy of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1930's. In 1934 Roosevelt announced a program for "security against the hazards and vicissitudes to life (upartsch 1985:14). In 1935 this announcement was followed by the "Social Security Act".1 In 1948 social security was officially proclaimed a human right in Article 22 of the General Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations. In 1952 the International Labour Office (ILO) introduced an ultimate definition of social security in Convention 102. Nowadays social security is a major component of welfare policies of all industrialized

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democratic President, invented Social Security as part of "The New Deal" in the year 1935. Its invention was to combat the "The Great Depression". It was invented along with welfare to help America's elderly, disabled, and unemployed.

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