(Aug. 14, 1935) Legislation that established a national old-age pension system in the U.S. Dissatisfied with the government response to the Great Depression, about five million people joined “Townsend clubs” to support the plan of Francis E. Townsend (1867–1960) to demand a $200 monthly pension for everyone over the age of 60.
Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt established a committee on economic security (1934), which recommended legislative action to the U.S. Congress. The act provided old-age benefits to be financed by a payroll tax on employers and employees. The system was later expanded to include dependents, the disabled, and others.
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