On Aug. 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, forever changing the lives of Americans by ensuring economic security for seniors and a federal unemployment insurance program for the jobless.
“Today a hope of many years’ standing is in large part fulfilled. The civilization of the past hundred years, with its startling industrial changes, has tended more and more to make life insecure,” Roosevelt said upon signing the law.
“Young people have come to wonder what would be their lot when they came to old age,” he continued. “The man with a job has wondered how long the job would last. This Social Security measure gives at least some protection to thirty millions of our citizens who will reap direct benefits through unemployment compensation, through old-age pensions and through increased services for the protection of children and the prevention of ill health.”
That’s exactly what it’s been doing for all these years, as documented by Social Security Works, an organization that fights to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid:
Over 66 million Americans depend on Social Security—around 1 out of every 5 Americans.
Around half of all seniors rely on Social Security for most of their income.
One-quarter of seniors rely on it for virtually all (90% or more) of their income.
Social Security’s benefits are modest, but vital, averaging around $20,000 per year.
Social Security lifts 22.5 million Americans, including over 1 million children, out of poverty and reduces the depth of poverty for millions more. Without it, the poverty rate of our seniors would be 38%; instead it is just under 9%.
It is an extremely efficient program, with administrative costs of less than a penny on the dollar. Social Security’s protections are estimated to have a present value of more than $675,000 in life insurance and $700,000 in disability insurance for a married 30 year old worker who has average earnings and two young children.
Social Security has become a lifeline for millions. Nearly 70% of voters rank it as a very important or top issue in figuring out whom they’ll vote for this year, according to a recent poll from Hart Research/Public Opinion Strategies on behalf of CNBC.
And for those Americans, it should be an obvious choice this fall. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has a record of policy positions that wouldn’t just preserve Social Security but also make it work even better, including a cost-of-living-adjustment expansion and a $200-per-month benefit increase. That should be good news to the 62% of likely voters who want to see the government increase Social Security benefits, according to a February poll from Data for Progress.
Congressional Democrats, as well, have regularly pushed for legislation to increase benefits and shore up the program’s trust fund to keep it strong. And a President Harris wouldn’t be able to achieve these goals if Democrats don’t take majorities in both the Senate and the House.
But what do Republicans want? When Donald Trump was in office, he regularly tried to undermine the program, proposing slashed spending. And House Republicans have countered Democrats’ efforts to expand it with cuts, including raising the retirement age to 70.
It’s a simple choice if you care about Roosevelt’s legacy and your own future.
