The Social Security Act of 1935 was passed in order to provide for elderly citizens who could not provide for themselves. Through this system, working citizens would pay into the system to provide for citizens aged 65 and older, and then when they reached the age of 65 they would be cared for as well. This system continues today, but as the life expectancy of citizens increases, many wonder if the Social Security cut off age should be raised to 70. It should. The fact of the matter is that the average 65 year old does not need their social security check in the way they did in 1935, so the system shouldn’t be wasting its finite resources caring for them. When the Social Security Act was passed, the life expectancy of the average American was 61.7 years. (Life Expectancy) 61.7 is quite noticeably a smaller number than 65. This shows two very important things about the time period in which it was passed. First, when they made the cut off to be 65 or higher, they were referring to people who, for all intents and purposes, could die any day. These weren’t just old people, they were old people. Most had one foot in the grave at the very least, so it makes sense that they wouldn’t be able to support themselves. …show more content…
(Life Expectancy) This means, on average, people are around 13 years away from death by the time their social security kicks in. While many people could probably use the help provided by Social Security at this age due to their weakening bodies, they clearly are a much broader demographic and, on average, in less need of support from the program. Many people reaching retirement age in the modern day are still active and take up hobbies. (Novak) Clearly they can still provide for themselves by working. It should not be the job of the government to provide for people who do not need the
Social Security has been a very beneficial government program for elderly people, and those whom they support, when being an active member in the workforce is no longer an option for reasons such as old age, disability, or death. Destruction of the program, or worse, lack of the aid, would be catastrophic. Without it, it could leave many senior citizens that can no longer
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.
Our Social Security program mainly help out with older citizens and retirement but Social Security is more than just a retirement plan. The program helps families where a parent die and there is no type of income, a worker who has been disabled, and a dependent parent. If there were some type of circumstances in one home or life, they would be able to receive Social Security at any age. There is no doubt in my mind that we should save this program, no matter the cost, it helps out so many people in ways that we may not know of. Take some time and think about the world if this program had never been created and image how many people would be in poverty, unemployed, and old people who are not being able to pay for medicines or supply that they need. We should not change anything in the Social Security program until an crisis acquire, and when that day comes we will already know what to do to improve it by changing certain things in the
People are living forever. This is not true in a literal sense but the average life expectancy for people in developed countries has skyrocketed over the last 100 years. There are many great benefits of an increased life expectancy that people are able to enjoy in modern society. However, with increased life expectancy comes a greater toll on some government provided services. Social Security is a retirement plan for senior citizens that started in 1935 and lately has been a controversial topic in United States politics. The United States Social security program should be privatized because of its current financial instability and the increased positive benefits to its recipients.
If a Social Security Act were being built today, I think it would look much different from the version that was created in 1935. There are many factors that have changed dramatically, and while there have been updates along the way in an attempt to address them, the program has still lagged behind to cause some to question its effectiveness and longevity. The very idea that government would be intervening in something that has such a large economic impact on the economy is frightening, but I do not feel we can rely on a system without Social Security. Today people live longer, has less saving, and right or wrong, have a higher expectation of living than people did decades ago. We live in a civilized country that contributes to helping others throughout the world, would we turn on back on our elderly or hope that someone else will find a solution? The idea of keeping government out and allowing a private solution sounds great, but ultimately I feel the problem will shift onto the citizens.
Since the very implementation of Social Security in 1935 during the time of the Great Depression to present day, it has been a never-ending source of controversy. As mentioned by Nancy Niles, Social Security was considered “old age insurance” (Niles, 2011, p. 9). It was designed to help older Americans, workers who become disabled, and families in which a spouse or parent dies (Niles, 2011). Not only has Social Security played a very essential role in the lives of many Americans throughout the years, but has also been very important to the economic security of the United States of America.
Social Security was established as a promise to the people of continuation of income into retirement. Well the road to hell is often paved with good intentions, because that promise now has the country in economic uncertainty. The guarantee that workers will be taken care of in their old age if they paid their Social Security tax, is no longer guaranteed. If we don’t come to a unanimous decision as to a plan of reform; financially our country is doomed.
The United States Social Security System is often considered a political football, frequently debated on whether the government should continue to manage it or should it be privatized. Either way, in today’s economy, it’s vital to the welfare of many. The main purpose of the system is to provide benefits to America’s workers and their families for retirement, disability, and early death. (Unknown Social Security ProCon) According to the data collected in the 2000 census, “Social Security is the main source of income for men and women 65 and older.” (Hartmann, Lee Highbeam) This finding proves people have become to depend on the government for this benefit, and for a multitude of reasons are not saving enough money to live on once they
Enacted in 1935, the Preamble of the Social Security Act stated that it was: An act to provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of Federal old-age benefits, and by enabling the several States to make more adequate provision for aged persons, blind persons, dependent and crippled children, maternal and child welfare, public health, and the administration of their unemployment compensation laws (Official Social Security Website, N.D.). These are the people who have the most difficulties supporting themselves, and if we are to be a “just society”, we should help those in need.
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 contribute through payroll
The issue is not necessarily the baby boomers retiring but the working class to the retiree ratio (The Future Financial). As of 2014, the United State has payed a sum of nine-hundred and six billion dollars in that year (Procon). The other half of the retirement program is made up of disability benefits. Early American workers have a twenty percent chance of becoming disabled before their retirement (United States). Disability benefits have made up a large portion of social security benefits to former employees with partial and full disabilities. There must be some solution to this issue and it must occur readily early as to prevent future issue for incoming beneficiaries. There are many options in order to make social security solvent for future generations pass the year 2037. Increase payroll taxes, change the retirement age, privatize social security, or continue without any reformation are some preferences by
The Social Security system was created in 1935 to provide income for retirees. Today, 167 million people pay Social Security taxes, and 60 million Americans (retired workers, the disabled, survivors of the deceased, and beneficiary dependents) receive the benefits. American workers pay Social Security taxes on their income through an automatic deduction. However, the taxes that you pay are not stashed away into your own personal Social Security savings account, but rather it pools to cover current beneficiaries. According to the Social Security Administration, as seniors age, they rely more and more on Social Security benefits. Social Security was designed to be a supplement, not the only source of income for Americans, though. I have heard that Social Security will only
However, some suggest that increasing the retirement age will close Social Security’s funding gap. The reason in need to change the retirement age is because Americans over the years have been able to live longer, which essentially means that Social Security benefits are given to a person much longer as well. From an article by the AARP commission, or American Association of Retired Persons, written by, Romina Boccia, and Virgina Reno, “Updating Social Security for the 21st Century: 12 Proposals You Should Know About”, “…Americans continue to live longer from one generation to the next, individuals will, on average, receive Social Security benefits for a longer time. The trend contributes to Social Security’s funding gap…” Back in 1935, a 65 year old men ranged to spend approximately 12 years in retirement benefits in contrast in modern times where average 65 year old men can spend up to 18 years’ worth of retirement benefits. A scenario of starting in 2023, the retirement age would increase every two months each year until 68 years old in 2028. By doing so, the funding gap would close to 16 percent. The earliest age to begin claiming retirement benefits is 62 years old, however, potentially that number can increase as well. With that said, another way is to gradually raise both retirement age and early eligibility age. If to begin in 2023 as well, the earliest age to claim full retirement benefits would increase from the current 62 years old to 65 years old. Unlike increasing the retirement age, by changing the earliest age to claim Social Security, the funding gap would close 26 percent. Both concepts are to reflect American’s longer life spans, and is ideally fair to Americans, and in addition, improves Social Security’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 Social Security System Act was established in the year of 1935 not expecting the baby boomers to be born from the years 1946 through 1964. This is a dilemma because of declining birth rates and increased life expectancy, there are now only three age stratification workers for each beneficiary, and soon there will be only two because the elderly will retire. The system will not be able to support itself with such few workers to pay for so many beneficiaries.