The concept was that Social Security would be one leg of a “three legged stool” used to support people in their old age.The premise was that individual savings and private or employer sponsored pensions would make up the other two legs of the stool.Since its inception, however, it has grown to become today’s most dominant federal program, the dominant retirement-funding vehicle, and a cornerstone in the way in which people view government as providing services for constituents and a safety net for the most vulnerable in our society.
The earliest social support systems were scattered among the states and provided no comprehensive level of benefits or coverage standards.In the early 1930’s, 44 states had workers-compensation laws.Forty-six had “pensions” for widowed mothers and only 24 had old age pension systems.These programs were minimalist in nature and created great disparity in the level of assistance an individual could expect to receive based on need and state of residence.The vulnerability of the population had grown by the 1930’s with less than 20% of the population engaged in agricultural employment.The population over age 65 had grown from 3% in 1870 to 5.4% by 1930and these were some of the most vulnerable people in society.The change to an older, more “citified”, less agricultural society meant that the old safety nets of family and guaranteed employment in the family farm or business were gone.The individual whose productivity had declined billion to $36.9 billion
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