The Social Security Act Of Franklin Delano Roosevelt

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

In 1930’s the Great Depression triggered a crises in the nation’s economic life. The Great Depression left millions of people unemployed and penniless. People consider leaving their farms behind to work in the cities factories to send money home. But as they grow into their new lifestyles the aging parent would stay behind to keep their dream of landowner ship. The seniors would be left in the hardest times of need living off the land. President Roosevelt’s New Deal was created to help jump-start the economy by providing unemployed workers with jobs and benefits packages for temporary relief. One of the many steps taken to alleviate the burden on the American people was the passing of Social Security Act on August 14, 1935 and its amendments by Congress and the President, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

We all can agree that in the past years there has been many events that has impacted America. One ever lasting effect was left by the Social Security Act of 1935. The Social Security programs are designed to protect individual families from income loss due to unemployment, sickness, old age, death, and to improve citizens ' welfare ("Why Social Security?"2015).

The passing of the Social Security Act generated a social insurance program that protected a multiplicity of people by supplying a monthly benefit to societal individuals age 65 and older who were no longer actively working; it was a means of income to individuals once they retired and was based on the person’s payroll tax contribution (Martin & Weaver, 2005). The longer amount of years a person was employed, the higher their benefit amount is set to be. Social weighing was a method they used to guarantee that the lower earning people receive a respectively greater income than their past earnings. (DeWitt, 2010). Not long after the Social Security Act was passed, legislation had considerable amounts of amendments to the original Social Security Act of 1935, and in 1939 the notion of economic security became family based; which it was then modified in order to supplement benefits to the spouse or young children of a retired worker, also providing welfare to a household who lost the loved one that was a covered worker (King & Cecil, 2006). In addition, the Social Security amendments of 1939 altered the benefits to be given to earlier participants and not focusing on giving benefits to future members in the Social Security program, also causing the arrangement of welfare to be provided to families rather than just an individual (DeWitt, 2007). Social Security being emphasized as an insurance rather than a savings, and carrying payroll tax money into the future would have

There are many problems with Social Security today; however, the most prominent problem stands out as the baby boomers. The term baby boomers refer to the massive generation born after World War 2, and since they are all retiring now America’s Social Security is beginning to drain. Chuck Hagel, author for USA Today Magazine, states that in 1950 for each retiree, there were 16.9 people in the workforce; today there are much bigger numbers: for each retiree there are nearly 3.3 people in the workforce (“Saving” 12). Hagel suggests that Americans under 45 should be able to have options when it comes down to how their money is being spent in Social Security: either they can use the traditional Social Security tax rate, or they can use 4% of their Social Security payments to invest the funds that currently make up Federal Thrift Savings Plan (“Saving” 12). In doing so Americans will be able to limit and control where their Social Security money goes. However, many people disagree with changing Social Security. David Cay Johnston, author of several award-winning books, argues that Social Security does not need a revision because of the large surpluses in past years: $2.7 trillion in 2011 (“Social Security is Not”). This is true, Social Security does have a large surplus every year; however, the government ends up spending it which

With a federal yearly budget which exceeds six hundred and twelve billion dollars and makes up more than one-fifth of the Federal Budget, Social Security is the nation’s largest federal program (Moody, 2012). Often, people are prompted to think of Social Security as a retirement program; however it is far more than that, for it provides for more people than just those who are retired. It provides for the disabled, for spouses or child of worker who has died, and for dependent parent of a worker who has died. Hence, depending on an individual 's circumstances, one might be eligible for Social Security at any age (Young, 2010).

Social Security came about when Roosevelt wanted workers and consumers to have more independence to back their own interests on the market in order to support his New Deal’s countervailing powers. While the initial plan was to use the respective American’s contribution and a portion of the general revenues of the U.S Treasury, Roosevelt opted for a more “self-financing plan under which old-age pensions worked on the model of insurance premiums” (Rauchway 98). When the worker would retire from old age, they would be able to draw their pensions without any governmental intervention. This would provide minimal amount of protection to average Americans, but unfortunately it could not be applied to all workers due to its restrained financial limits and late addition compared to other

The Social Security Act was originally one of my New Deal Programs to deal with the instability of retirement in the United States but I saw the opportunity that it could also do more than just that. The good people of the U.S. cannot always control whether they keep or lose their jobs. To combat unemployment rates, the SSA will act as a safety net for people that have been laid-off until they could find another source of income. Money will be taken out of an employee’s paycheck to help pay for Social Security. Two percent of all paychecks will be affected. Older Americans, the handicapped, and dependents were also given the money. In the beginning, about sixty percent of the workforce will be covered by Social Security but I predict that in about sixty years that ninety-five percent of the workforce will be covered. “Initially 60% of the workforce was covered by Social Security (by 1995, 95% of the workforce was covered)” (Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum - Our

     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

Recent news has shown that politicians want to shift the responsibility on the issue of Social security; no one can find a reasonable way to fix the problems that have come into the light (New York Times August 14, 2010). The politicians keep putting off the inevitable fact that someone will have to take the responsibility and face what years of neglect have caused. Depending on the government, for retirement is not an option that Americans can depend on, the governments own trustees are telling Americans that Social Security is not reliable as a retirement

One in six people in the US benefit from Social Security. That means that approximately 59 million people receive payments every month. Social security is a system in which current workers pay for other people’s benefits, and not their own. Many people pay taxes to fund the program, so those who don't (or can’t) work can live. Because Americans are not good at managing money (Mitchell), many don’t have substantial funding to live off of, so Social Security is necessary. Right now there is an excess of payments that aren't being received, and those excesses all go into a fund. In the upcoming decades that fund will be depleted, and we will run out of money to pay out. Social Security is a sinking ship, and the government

Since the beginning of the 2007, Americans have worried about their individual finances, especially when it comes to future financial security. With the recent recession crippling most Americans ideas of retirement, a proposal has been presented with hopes of lessening the burden to senior citizens when it comes to retirement.1 The proposition that NIFI.org advances is increasing the Social Security Income Tax on households, asking for a raise from the current 6.2% to a future 7.2%. NIFI.org contends that this tax will enable funding for Social Security to remain unhindered for the next twenty years, which would give policy makers further time to make additional changes to the program. This paper will present a counter argument to the

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

Planning for retirement should not be based on Social Security alone, but rather by saving portions of personal earned wages and putting finances into long-term investments. Depending on Social Security as the only income after retiring is an unsafe and undependable way to prepare for retirement. People who contribute to Social Security are mandatorily putting money into the Social Security Reserve; this money is used for older generations that will file for these benefits before the younger people working, in the early 21 century, ever receive a chance. Money controlled by other’s hands will never be a guarantee for a secure future, yet money saved by an individual to put toward personal goals will reward greatly. By taking the time to

A little over 60 years ago the nation struggled through what was, up to then, the most dramatic crisis since the Civil War. The economy was uprooted after the crash of the stock market and the country's financial stability destroyed. One of the many steps taken to alleviate the burden on the American people was that of the passing of Social Security Act of 1935 and its amendments by Congress and the President, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Under the provisions of the Act, the government would take on the responsibility of taxing the income of all working Americans and returning the money through numerous public benefits and programs. Now the nation faces an economic and political problem with the program