Social Security College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Social Security College - Essay Example Economic Security in America, para. 2). One of the first Americans to propose a system of economic security for U.S citizens was Thomas Payne in his 1795 writing titled "Agrarian Justice". It provided sums for citizens reaching the age of 21 and then a yearly payment to those reaching 50. Payne's idea was to pay for it by means of a property inheritance tax. In 1862, a Civil War pension program was enacted. "Following the Civil War, there were hundreds of thousands of widows and orphans, and hundreds of thousands of disabled veterans. In fact, immediately following the Civil War a much higher proportion of the population was disabled or survivors of deceased breadwinners than at any time in America's history. This led to the development of a generous pension program, with interesting similarities to later developments in Social Security" (DeWitt, sect. Civil War Pensions, para. 1). The program evolved, starting with benefits only to those disabled in combat or to their surviving families. As time passed, veterans disabled for any reason could receive payments. After that, aged veterans were added. Later, disability and old age benefits were extended to include family members. Former Confederate soldiers were not allowed any benefits. The last payments to surviving widows of Civil War veterans were made in 1999. With the advent of the Industrial Age a... State Old-Age Pensions, para.1). Prior to the passage of the original Social Security Act in 1935, thirty states had adopted some form of old-age pension plan. Only about 3% of the elderly were actually collecting benefits under the state plans. There was lack of implementation of the laws. The plans allowed insufficient funds. The elderly faced restrictive plan entry rules. The receipt of benefits was stigmatized as "welfare". Throughout the early 1930's and spurred by the Great Depression, movements arose that advocated a federal old-age pension system. Huey Long, Governor of Louisiana, proposed the "Share Our Wealth" plan in which the rich would pay for the poor and the aged. Francis Townsend devised the "Townsend Old-Age Revolving Pension Plan". It proposed that all upstanding citizens over 60 receive a monthly benefit that must be spent within the U.S. and within 30 days. There were numerous plans proposed from every direction during those years, some of them of questionable economic merit like Robert Noble's "Ham & Eggs" plan. It suggested that states should issue a currency to be called "scrip" to the unemployed and aged. The validity of the currency and by what economic backing it would be issued were very hazy indeed. Still, it was part of the social movement demanding the creation of a form of economic security for the masses. Most of the plans had benefits that were based on economic need. When Franklin Roosevelt became President in 1932, he changed the face of the economic security discussion from welfare to social insurance. He proposed "a work-related, contributory system in which workers would provide for their own future economic security through taxes paid while