Jimmy Carter said any system of economics is bankrupt if it sees either value or virtue in unemployment. The Social Security Act of 1935, also known as the "Old-age program", is the largest social program in the United States to date. The main function of this program is to compensate workers and their family members who are retired or disabled. The Social Security act came at a time of great hardship and uncertainty by the American people. With the Old-age program it was possible for a retired person to have a form of security knowing that they will have a supplemental income which would allow them to live and in return allow the younger generation to work.
The Social Security Act of 1935 came at a great time of hardship and suffering. Prior
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to 1935, there had been a Great Stock Market Crash, which caused the failure of a great number of banks and the bankruptcy of many people and industries. The unemployment rate was critically high for a nation; in 1935 on average 19.97% of the labor force was out of work (u-s-history.com). This high unemployment rate was due to multiple reasons. The elderly would work until they were no longer physically capable because they needed the money to survive.
During that period, when a person retired, they would not simply stop working, they would move in with their son or grandson because there was a lack of savings. This would cause a hardship for the family because they would already be making barely enough to survive. If the son or grandson would lose his job than the responsibility would fall onto one man to continue working in order to feed the family. This alone led to a high unemployment rate, especially for the younger generation of workers. It was difficult for them to obtain work because the elderly were filling positions for long periods of time. The elderly would continue to work to either feed their families or they had no family to live with and needed to work to keep their home and survive. With the lack of income, unemployment and banking problems in result of the market crash some 273,000 families were evicted from their homes in 1932 alone (Tom. DeGrace, 2011). The American people needed the government to step in and do something; they needed a program to assist these people who are retired, disabled, poor and …show more content…
homeless. There have been quite a few ideas or concepts of how the Social Security Program should work and what it should cover. Since the ideas conception in regards to the Grat Depression states have created their own programs and Senators have devisied solutions. The first concepts of a Social Security system were very different from what we know today. Although by 1934, 30 states had responded to the Great Depression and the growing number of homeless families and elderly by providing pensions for the needy aged to a sum of $31 million, an average of $19.74 a month per aged person for that year alone. Throughout the Great Depression various national ideas came to shine in order to assist the aged individuals. One idea was the “Townsend Old-Age revolving Pension Plan” and “Share the Wealth” by Senator Huey P. Long of Louisiana. In this plan every American over the age of 60 would receive a monthly pension, provided he or she does not work and would promised to spend the entire payment during the month. Along with the pensions, larger personal fortunes would be liquefied to finance these pensions and provide cash payments to every family sufficient to buy a home, car and a radio (Martha A. McSteen). Another idea was that the people would pay taxes to finance their retirement, which was not possible because the people were too poor to pay any more into taxes. An alternative to having people pay extra into taxes was that each person would contribute part of their wages to this program, which the federal government would then partially fund it. On January 17, 1935 President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a message pleading congress to implement a social security program to assist the elderly and disabled, and on the same day Senator Robert Wagner of New York and Representative David Lewis of Maryland introduced the bill that would soon become the Social Security Act of 1935. Even with the Presidents pleading and the American people desperately needing it, the Senate and House would still encounter problems due to individuals feeling it is a government invasion of privacy (Ourdocumnets.gov). On August 14, 1935 President Franklin D. Roosevelt finally signed the Social Security Act into law and with that moment came changes that would affect every American from then on. America was in great need of something, anything to get the U.S. back on its feet both economically and socially. The Great Depression left a sour taste in Americans mouth and an uncertainty for the ageing population.
Before the 1930s the care and support of the elderly fell in the hands of the local, state and family rather than that of the federal government (Ourdocumnets.gov). With the Great Depression, families and the local government was unable to care for the elderly, retired or disabled Americans and they would soon find themselves homeless and living on the streets. The old-age program assisted these people in keeping their homes and giving them the chance to live and rest. With the Social Security Act now signed into law there were bound to be changes made and services expanded upon to cover the needs of
more. The Social Security Act of 1935 came at a very rough time in our history and was created to help the people in need. Over the years the SSA has been modified with the times and incorporated a wide variety of assistances for various scenarios. With time we can expect more changes to come and more rules to be implemented to cover a wider array of issues. The Social security act has its faults, but at the same time it allowed the old-age to retire which created job opportunities for the younger generation, provided relief to the disabled, reduced unemployment and stimulated the economy. We can expect the Social Security Program to be around for a long time to come.
In the Roaring Twenties, people started buying household materials and stocks that they could not pay for in credit. Farmers, textile workers, and miners all got low wages. In 1929, the stock market crashed. All of these events started the Great Depression. During the beginning of the Great Depression, 9000 banks were closed, ending nine million savings accounts. This lead to the closing of eighty-six thousand businesses, a European depression, an overproduction of food, and a lowering of prices. It also led to more people going hungry, more homeless people, and much lower job wages. There was a 28% increase in the amount of homeless people from 1929 to 1933. And in the midst of the beginning of the Great Depression, President Hoover did nothing to improve the condition of the nation. In 1932, people decided that America needed a change. For the first time in twelve years, they elected a democratic president, President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Immediately he began to work on fixing the American economy. He closed all banks and began a series of laws called the New Laws. L...
They way people interacted with others changed in the Great Depression. One of the main changes is the way the family was run. During the glutted 1920s, the father is the support of the family while the mother do the housekeeping. When the great depression struck, the men lost their jobs. They can no longer support their families. Because of self pride, many fathers left their families and never came back because felt that they lost their purpose in the
The economy during the thirties was very bad in America. At the end of the last century, in 1929, the stock exchange crashed. It is referred to as the Wall Street crash and the collapse of the NY stock exchange, but most importantly it started the Great Depression. Every day there were more bankruptcies and layoffs. Even big, seemingly indestructible companies were in danger. Companies like Industrial Steel. They had to lay off 225,000 workers. The Great Depression hit everywhere and everyone. There was no food and no money. People rushed to the banks to get their savings, but there was no money to get. Nine million savings accounts were wiped out. Bank failures crushed tens of thousands of people. Everyone was selling all they had. Half the families in the United States were facing eviction. Four million United States families were without means for one year after the crash. Hoovers theology was that if America was left alone, it would right itself. So he did nothing. When Roosevelt became president, he closed down all the banks and rushed them two billion dollars, then reopened them. Roosevelt, although this was not enough to fix what the crash had done to America, attempted to bring America back from the brink.
The Great Depression, beginning in the last few months of 1929, impacted the vast majority of people nationwide and worldwide. With millions of Americans unemployed and many in danger of losing their homes, they could no longer support their families. Children, if they were lucky, wore torn up ragged clothing to school and those who were not lucky remained without clothes. The food supply was scarce, and bread was the most that families could afford. Households would receive very limited rations of food, or small amounts of money to buy food.
Throughout the 20th century governmental responsibility has made remarkable progress. One major milestone of the widening of the responsibility of the federal government was it’s making an obligation to care for the elderly and retired in the form of social security. In 1935, the Social Security Act was enacted by the federal government to provide financial security to the elderly, retired citizens in America. Although the federal government first took on this responsibility in 1935, it is still affecting our lives today. However, social security would not have advanced this far without many organizations and individual reformers to begin and improve social security throughout history.
The bill created a Job Corps similar to the New Deal Civilian Conservation Corps; a domestic peace corps; a system for vocational training. The bill also funded community action programs and extended loans to small businessmen and farmers. This helped people to get jobs with good wages.Then came the Medicare Act of 1965 which help people to get better health coverage. “No longer will older Americans be denied the healing miracle of modern medicine. No longer will illness crush and destroy the savings that they have so carefully put away over a lifetime so that they might enjoy dignity in their later years” (1) In 1964 more than 44 percent senior had no health coverage or insurance. Senior citizens were dragged down to poverty as they were not able to pay the medical bills. But after the Medicare Act of 1965 which provide everyone with the medical coverage of all people age 65 and above this issue was almost solved. Along with the Medicare, the Johnson Administration established the Medicaid program to provide healthcare to the poor. Different from Medicare, this Federal-state partnership is largely determined in form and construct by each individual state. In the first three years of the program, nearly 20 million beneficiaries were enrolled
The years berween 1929 and 1933 were trying years for people throughout the world. Inflation was often so high money became nearly worthless. America had lost the prosperity it had known during the 1920's. America was caught in a trap of a complete meltdown of economy, workers had no jobs simply because it cost too much to ship the abundance of goods being produced. This cycle was unbreakable, and produced what is nearly universally recognized as the greatest economic collapse of all times. These would be trying years for all, but not every American faced the same challenges and hardships. (Sliding 3)
During the late 1920s the United States was going through an economic depression that was caused by the failure of the stock market. When the stock market crashed, millions of people lost their savings, jobs and also their homes. About millions of people end up traveling across the country in order to find a job to help them to support their family. After becoming the president, Franklin D. Roosevelt want to help the country by stopping the depression and it too never occur again in the United States.
The Great Depression was felt worldwide, some countries more than others. During this time many Americans had to live in poor conditions. In the United states, 25 percent of the workers and 37 percent of all nonfarm workers lost their job(Smiley 1). Unemployment rates had increased to a 24.9 percent during 1933(Shmoop 1). Unable to pay mortgages, many families lost their homes. The cause of this was the Stock Market crash in 1929. Many investors of the stock market panicked and sold all their stocks. The results of this include frightened Americans withdrawing all their saving causing and hoarding it in their homes many banks to shut down and less money to circulate in the economy. Although the economy had taken a dramatic blow, there was hope. A new program was administered by the government to help people suffering from the depression. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) program helped improve lives of Americans affected by the Great Depression.
The Social Security Act was passed by President FDR as one of his programs to fight the Great Depression. The Social Security Act was enacted August 14, 1935 (Social Security Act). The current problem is the fear of what will become of Social Security as the baby boomers generation begins to retire. As millions of baby boomers approach retirement, the program's annual cash surplus will shrink and then disappear. Then, Social Security will not be able to pay full benefits from its payroll and other tax revenues (Social Security Reform Center – Problem). This is causing the U.S. government to think about reform and changes for the ...
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 proposal of privatized accounts.
The government used the New Deal as a foundation to build new welfare programs. Medicaid and Medicare were created to help poor and elderly people with their medical costs. Support for welfare programs has declined from the 1980’s to the present day, even with efforts to try and improve support. Since the New Deal and the Great Society programs, the support for the welfare programs has been declining. President George W. Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) bill to try and increase the support for welfare programs by helping low-income children.
Do you know what it’s like to live in a cardboard home, starve, and raise a family in poverty? Unfortunately, most Americans in the 1930s went through this on a day-to-day basis. In 1929 the stock market crashed. Many people lost their life savings; they invested everything they owned in a failing stock market. The country was falling, everyone needed strong leadership and help from the government.
In 1935, America went through a lot and they were still struggling to industrialize and stand up on their own feet. However, to what extent did Social Security hinder business economically? Moreover, the steps up the hill were hard because America was going through the Great Depression. The stock market crashed and 1929 but the effects were still the same during 1935. In 1935, Social Security Act was published under the the New Deal. Social Security Act was supposedly displayed for people who were unemployed, disabled, and for older citizens who retired could not afford medicine, food, and shelter. In the beginning, if somebody who was old in your family would have been taken care of by you or your relatives however, this Act helped retired
Social Security for the first time provided Americans with unemployment, disability and pensions for old age, which wasn’t there before and thanks to The Great Depression helps out all Americans that need economic relief while taking advantage of Social Security has arguably kept America out of economic chaos (“What is Social Security”?). The Great Depression led us to have a better economic system and changed economic thinking. Laws were passed in order to prevent another depression from happening. Although many years have passed since the Great Depression, things that were seen back then are still being seen today in 2014. High unemployment rates and low income among families forced to need the help of welfare are seen today as they were seen during the time of the Great Depression.