Social Security: A Bedrock for 70 Years

The need for a social insurance program in the United States reached a critical point during the 1930’s as the Depression was in full swing. But many don’t realize that the first mention of a U.S. system of social security came 135 years earlier. In Agrarian Justice, Thomas Paine described a program that would provide pensions for all Americans regardless of their means. Ordinary people of all ages found themselves in deep poverty in the 1930’s. Older Americans were impacted perhaps the deepest, but were not alone. Many young adults found themselves unable to help their aging parents while they were struggling to feed their own children. First signed into law in August 1935, the Social Security Act was amended four years later to include benefits for surviving children, for widows over age 65, for widows of any age taking care of a child of the deceased, and benefits for aged dependent parents of the deceased worker. Social Security always has been and always should be a social insurance program. It has been successful all these years because it works for everyone. Social Security is vitally important to seniors but it is also important to young people. Much ado has been made that young people would have a better chance of accumulating a retirement nest egg if they invested in the stock market and other financial vehicles. Young people already have available to them IRA’s, 401k’s as well as other tax incentives to save. And, they should take advantage of these. But if something goes wrong along the way, Social Security will be there. If they become disabled (3 in 10 workers has a high likelihood of becoming disabled in their working lifetime), they can receive benefits. If they find themselves widowed before they reach retirement, Social Security will be there. If they die and leave behind young children, Social Secuity will be there.