Social Security Act Of 1935

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Social Security Act Of 1935

Social security act of 1935 was one landmark law which brought a lot of changes to a large population in the United States especially among the old aged. During the time of industrial revolution there was a lot of imbalance and a lot of differences when it came to poverty level as many people who were old aged and retired became very poor due to lack of savings and inability to work at that time. This was what led to the proposal by president Roosevelt about social security and how to make sure that people were taken care of when they could not get a job to at least have food on their table. The industrial revolution was a great lesson and people suffered so much with no food and no employment and therefore this was towards the desire to curb the suffering of the Americans.

However social security had different effects on different people. For example most employers complained on being taxed to contribute towards the scheme, the scheme was organized in such a way that the individual employees as well as employers were taxed and that amount was supposed to contribute towards the reserves of the scheme until 1942 when the benefits were supposed to begin being given out (Skocpol, & Amenta, 1985). However the scheme did not wait for this long and distributions began earlier than 1942. In the past the employers had created different pension schemes for their employees and since it was a local arrangement most of the times it did not work as the companies closed or the owners left with the money of the employees. However under the social security act the employers had to contribute towards the care of its employees by the government and in this way they could not get involved into dubious business.

Therefore one effect the social security act had on the employers was the reduction of profit and income made as it went to the social security as pension for the employees (Butler, 1983). Even though this was a noble act some companies complained of the amount of money they were paying and some began playing around the whole system by fabricating documents and lying about the employees or their income. However this has been addressed during the different cases and amendments made to the social security act.

Therefore the social security act had a significant change towards the manner in which companies and other employers cared for their employees as well as he general poverty level of individuals especially the old aged, the disabled and others who had challenges.

References

Butler, R. N. (1983). The relation of extended life to extended employment since the passage of Social Security in 1935. The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly. Health and Society, 420-429.

Skocpol, T., & Amenta, E. (1985). Did capitalists shape social security?. American Sociological Review, 50(4), 572-575.