The FDR initiated the Social Security Program in 1934, sent it to both houses and was signed into law in 1935. During the Great Depression Americans lost their jobs. Many of the elderly had no source of income even as savings disappeared in the Depression. The New Deal had benefits for particular groups and minorities. Social insurance is one of its principal benefits for people who retired so that they can access health services and a monthly stipend. Immigrants, labor unions, African-Americans, women, and southern whites were among those covered by the New Deal. The Social Security Administration (SSA) is the agency that is responsible for the services of Social Security. For each of these groups, federal representation and political participation enhanced with the Program. By 2011 about 56 million individuals are receivingSocial Security benefits paid by an estimated 158 million working Americans (SSA, 2011).
There has been a gradual transformation in the Social Security program. The primary focus was the retirees and the unemployed. It expanded to include the disable, dependent children, public health services, maternal and child welfare, and the blind. In 1965 the Medicare and Medicaid programs were added. Thus, as the economic dynamics change so is the Social Security Program.
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The current issues with the program are funding, taxes, qualification for services, and sustainability. The Program is keeping several American away from poverty (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2015). Employees and employers are experiencing increases in taxes from their earnings that are not proportionate to the workplace remunerations and profit margins. Also, the scope of Social Security has expanded requiring more money into its services. Altman, kingson, and Johnston, (2015) argue that expanding the program is helpful. This increase means that in the future an imbalance will be created and the Program will not be able to take care of those being covered now. Thus, the government has to look for alternative sources of funding for the Program rather than taxing employees and entrepreneurs. Taxes should be directed to the big corporations, and the cover for the Program should be reviewed and scaled down.The limit of 106,800 earning exemption should be removed.
References
Altman, N., Kingson, E., & Johnston, D., C. (2015). Social Security Works! Why Social Security Isn't Going Broke and How Expanding It Will Help Us All. The New Press.
Center on Budget and Policies Priorities. (2015). Social Security Keeps 22 Million Americans Out of Poverty: A State-By-State Analysis. Retrieved from http://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/social-security-keeps-22-million-americans-out-of-poverty-a-state-by-state
Social Security Administration (2011). History. Retrieved from http://www.ssa.gov/history/hfaq.html
