On August 14, 1935, the Social Security Act established a system of old-age benefits for workers, benefits for victims of industrial accidents, unemployment insurance, aid for dependent mothers and children, the blind, and the physically handicapped.
Before the 1930s, support for the elderly was a matter of local, state and family
rather than a Federal concern (except for veterans’ pensions). However,
the widespread suffering caused by the Great Depression brought support for numerous
proposals for a national old-age insurance system. On January 17, 1935, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a message to Congress asking for "social security"
legislation. The same day, Senator Robert Wagner of New York and Representative
David Lewis of Maryland introduced bills reflecting the administration’s
views. The resulting Senate and House bills encountered opposition from those
who considered it a governmental invasion of the private sphere and from those
who sought exemption from payroll taxes for employers who adopted government-approved
pension plans. Eventually the bill passed both houses, and on August 15, 1935,
President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law.
The act created a uniquely American solution to the problem of old-age pensions.
Unlike many European nations, U.S. social security "insurance" was
supported from "contributions" in the form of taxes on individuals’
wages and employers’ payrolls rather than directly from Government funds.
The act also provided funds to assist children, the blind, and the unemployed;
to institute vocational training programs; and provide family health programs.
As a result, enactment of Social Security brought into existence complex administrative
challenges. The Social Security Act authorized the Social Security Board to
register citizens for benefits, to administer the contributions received by
the Federal Government, and to send payments to recipients. Prior to Social
Security, the elderly routinely faced the prospect of poverty upon retirement.
For the most part, that fear has now dissipated.
For more information, visit The National Archives' Treasures of Congress Online Exhibit.
