history. The stock market crashed in October 1929; a banking crisis followed. Stores closed, 25 to 30 percent of workers lost their jobs, and people could not pay their bills or buy enough food for their families. Hunger and breadlines became common, and people began to lose their homes because they could not make their regular loan payments. Overcome by the Depression, the nation and its president struggled for solutions.
The Social Security Act of 1935 was one measure in a sweeping series of legislative relief and recovery measures known as the New Deal. Designed to bring prosperity back to the United States, the New Deal programs were created under the guidance of President Roosevelt. The Social Security Act was one of the most important and revolutionary pieces of social legislation ever passed by the U.S. Congress. Social legislation refers to laws that address social issues such as oldage retirement payments, unemployment support, and health care.
The Social Security Act was considered revolutionary because the U.S. government had never before taken on the responsibility of social insurance for its people. Social insurance is a system of government-sponsored social programs that are designed to protect a nation's citizens—especially the aged, the very needy, and the disabled—against economic hardship.
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