The social security apparatus in the USA is under siege. Or, the social security system is an inordinate burden on US taxpayers. The two contradicting statements from the two sides of the social security/elderly debate in the USA. One ideological group seeks to protect social security at all costs while the other seeks to whittle it gradually. This tag of war has been ongoing in the history of social security, which began in America’s colonial masters, Britain (Boberg‐Fazlić & Sharp, 2017). The modern version of social security goes back to the signing of the Social Security Act of 1935. Since then, social security has been the subject of various changes and amendments seeking to expand and minimize it in equal measure, as this research paper will reveal.
Background Information and Statistics
The National Academy of Social Insurance defines social security as an economic foundation for retired and disabled Americans alongside their families and those of diseased workers. There are about 169 million Americans who pay social security taxes and 61 million Americans currently collecting monthly social security benefits (NASI, 2020). The social security system operates in a pay-as-you-go program system where the monies paid as social security taxes end up paying for the benefits. Therefore, without taxes, the system could go bankrupt. Payable benefits vary depending on the status of the recipient. For example, a retired worker gets $1,391, a married disabled worker gets $2,278 while a widowed mother with two children will get $2,664. According to DaSilva, B. (2017), social security is crucial for elderly Americans. For the purposes of social security, old age begins at 65 years of age. About fifteen million Americans depend on social security benefits to stay out of poverty, which accounts for 40% of all Americans above the age of 65. This statistic increases with age as by rises to 76% for those over 80 years.
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History of Social Security/Elderly in America
The history of social security in the USA goes back to the colonial masters, Britain, through the poor laws of the 17 th century. The poor laws provided that the state has an obligation to take care of the poor people living within its domains (Boberg‐Fazlić & Sharp, 2017). Such laws extended to the USA, then a collection of British colonies. Different states and localities had some form of programs for assisting the poor and needy within them despite their age. After independence from the British Empire, informal social security programs continued in the USA.
The first nationalized social security program commenced after the Civil War, which resulted in a sudden influx of widowhood and people living with disabilities. The federal government would provide minimal assistance to needy people whose poverty arose as a consequence of service in the Civil War (Gordon, 2017). The next major event in the history of US social services is the Great Depression. At this stage, social security programs began recognizing old age as a prerequisite for receiving social security. However, due to the vagaries of the Great Depression Social Security was ineffective (Gordon, 2017).
The modern version of social security traces back to 1935 when President Franklin Roosevelt created a federal social security system through the Social Security Act (Gagnon, 2017). Under the new system, social security fell under the control of the federal government on a pay-as-you-go program system. Workers would pay taxes into the system while qualified beneficiaries would draw from the same. Since 1934, there have been minor changes that advanced or reduced the social security system but its general tenets have remained the same (Gordon, 2017).
Conclusion
The US social security system is still a work in progress as tens of millions of Americans are still poor, but it does a great service more so for the elderly, the widows of workers, and the disabled. The focus of social security in the country is to support working Americans who due to disability or old age, are no longer able to work. Therefore, the ability to earn social security depends to some extent of having worked before the inability to work arose. In some cases, the government does provide some exceptions in a bid to limit poverty among the vulnerable segments of the communities. However, there is a need to expand social security to mitigate poverty in the country that has the most powerful economy in the world.
References
DaSilva, B. (2017, October 11). Social Security Helps Millions of Elderly Americans. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities . Retrieved from https://www.cbpp.org/blog/social-security-helps-millions-of-elderly-americans
Gagnon, J. (2017). The Redistributive Properties of the Social Security Act of 1935. Res Publica-Journal of Undergraduate Research , 22 (1), 10.
Gordon, R. J. (2017). The rise and fall of american growth: The US standard of living since the civil war (Vol. 70). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
NASI. (2020). What is Social Security? National Academy of Social Insurance . Retrieved from https://www.nasi.org/learn/socialsecurity/overview
Boberg‐Fazlić, N., & Sharp, P. (2017). Does welfare spending crowd out charitable activity? Evidence from historical England under the poor laws. The Economic Journal , 127 (599), 50-83.
