A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about the history of the Social Security number. I was surprised by the number of people who enjoyed it. And more than a few of you asked me for more columns with a historical bent, so I thought: Why not the history of Social Security itself?
As you might guess, there are more than a few books about the history of Social Security—books that run to hundreds and even thousands of pages. So how am I going to squeeze that history into the relatively few words I get in this column? Oh well, I'll try.
Most people recognize that the concept of a national social insurance system in America grew out of the economic crises that followed the Great Depression and out of the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as president in 1932. His “New Deal” programs were enacted to help bring the country out of the economic depths of that time. And of course, Social Security was one of those programs.
But it’s not like the country was initially willing and eager to welcome this new kind of government-run old-age pension system. And opposition didn’t just come from expected sources like conservative Republicans. Most employers and even many unions just didn’t trust the federal government to be able to finance and manage such a huge and comprehensive program.
Of course, many people were involved in making Social Security happen. But one often-overlooked person deserves a great deal of credit: Frances Perkins. She was FDR’s Secretary of Labor, and it was her perseverance and powers of persuasion with not only labor leaders, but also with members of Congress, that finally took Social Security off the planning table and onto the floors of Congress as actual legislation in January 1935.
But once there, the bill didn’t exactly breeze through Congress. In fact, on March 20, 1935, The New York Times ran a story headlined: “Hopes Are Fading for the Social Security Bill.” Then, FDR stepped in. He called the leaders of Congress over to the White House and gave them a pep talk. Not long afterward, those members of Congress swallowed their doubts and passed the Social Security bill by a substantial 372-33 margin.
Then, the bill bogged down in the Senate with various members of the upper body trying to tack on amendments (such as making the program voluntary rather than compulsory). Eventually, all these issues were ironed out, the bill passed, and FDR signed the Social Security Act on Aug. 14, 1935. (And that means we are celebrating its 88th birthday!)
Speaking of that original Social Security law, many readers tell me that we should take Social Security “back to its roots.” They think too many “goodies” have been tacked on to the program over the years and that we'd be better off with “good old-fashioned original Social Security.”
I always tell these folks that if they really mean they want only the original Social Security law, then all we would have are retirement benefits for people 65 and older who were totally retired. That’s it. Period. Nothing else!
So that means we would have no early retirement benefits at age 62. Those millions of people getting early retirement benefits could kiss their checks goodbye under the “back to basics” plan.
It also would mean we would not pay benefits to anyone 65 and older if they were still working. The original Social Security law required that you must be completely retired to collect benefits. So tough luck for all the working seniors out there under the original plan.
Oh, and there would be no extra bonus for people who delay taking benefits until a later age. Millions of seniors currently plan to work until 70 in order to get a 30 percent bonus added to their checks. Back-to-basics plans would turn off that incentive to delay retirement.
There would be no benefits for spouses or widows or widowers. And if a young worker dies and leaves small children, tough luck. No government benefits for them.
And there would be no disability benefits. So, if you have a heart attack at age 55, well then that’s just too bad. You would just have to wait until you are 65 to collect your Social Security, assuming you live that long.
I could go on and on. There are tens of millions of people getting Social Security benefits today who would not qualify for anything under the original Social Security law.
Some people call these extra benefits “goodies” added to the original Social Security law, I would make the point that Social Security expanded over the years not because Congress was looking for ways to hand out freebies to freeloaders, but because there were legitimate needs that people had and that a caring and compassionate society needed to provide for its citizens. That’s why today we have Social Security benefits for working seniors, for spouses and widows, for orphaned children, for divorced women, and for disabled workers. Here is a quick rundown of the major changes to Social Security over the years.
1935—the original Social Security Act: Provided benefits for retirees at age 65 and nothing else.
1939 amendments: Added benefits for dependent wives aged 65 and older and for the minor children of retirees. Also added benefits to widows aged 65 and older and to surviving minor children of a worker who died. And included benefits for widows at any age if caring for a minor child.
1950 amendments: Added benefits for dependent husbands aged 65 and older and widowers aged 65 and older.
1956 amendments: Lowered the age at which a woman can get retirement benefits to 62. Also lowered the age at which a husband or wife can get spousal or widow’s benefits to 62. Added disability benefits for disabled workers between ages 50 and 64.
1960 amendments: Expanded disability benefits to a disabled worker of any age as long as he or she was “insured.”
1961 amendments: Lowered the age at which a man can get retirement benefits to 62. Also lowered the widower’s age to 62.
1965 amendments: Lowered the age at which a woman can get widow’s benefits to 60. Added benefits for surviving children between ages 18 and 21. Added benefits for divorced women if they were married for 20 years. Also added the Medicare program.
1968 amendments: Lowered the age at which a woman could collect widow’s benefits to 50 if she was disabled.
1977 amendments: Lowered the duration of the marriage requirement for divorced spouses from 20 years to 10 years.
1983 amendments: Raised the retirement age to 67 over a 50-year period. Children’s benefits eliminated for those age 18-21. Added benefits for fathers caring for minor children.
