Social Security
Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. [1]
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law on August 14th, 1935, creating a social insurance program for retired workers over 65. [2]
The term encompasses not only social insurance but also health and welfare services and various income maintenance programs designed to improve the recipient’s welfare through public services. [3]
The labor force participation rate of men aged sixty-five and over was about 76 percent to 78 percent between 1850 and 1880; thus the retirement rate was 22 percent to 24 percent. [4]
The main part of the program is sometimes abbreviated OASDI (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) or RSDI (Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance). [5]
The United States did not enact a national retirement program until 1935. [1]
Social Security is a social insurance program that is primarily funded through dedicated payroll taxes called Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax (FICA). [...] In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program. [5]
France adopted in 1905 a program of voluntary unemployment insurance and in 1928 made insurance plans for old age and sickness mandatory. [3]
In the 1950’s Social Security coverage was extended to groups not included in the original program: farm workers, domestic workers, self-employed people, members of the armed forces and some state and local government employees. [2]
If birth rates remain low and if people continue to live longer, then the obligations to people who will retire in twenty-five years will be large relative to the income of the working population at that time. [1]
Payments to current retirees are financed by a payroll tax on current workers’ wages, half directly as a payroll tax and half paid by the employer. [5]
The initial FICA tax rate was 1 percent of the first $3,000 of wage income paid by both parties. [1]
The original Social Security Act (1935) and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs. [5]
Before the establishment of social security, workers pursued a range of strategies to prepare themselves and their spouses for old age’relying primarily on the market and the family. [4]
Sources:
[1] Social Security - Wikipedia
[2] Social Security (US) - News - Times Topics - The New York Times
[3] social security: Definition from Answers.com
[4] Social Security: West’s Encyclopedia of American Law (Full …
[5] Social Security (United States) - Wikipedia