Social
Security column
Reflecting on 78 years of Social Security
By
Carolyn W. Colvin, acting commissioner of Social Security
Send a link to a friend
[August 13, 2013]
BALTIMORE -- There are special
moments when people look back and evaluate a life or an era:
birthdays, class reunions, holidays, anniversaries. Time is, after
all, simply the stringing together of a number of events, some
small, others significant. These events can speed by quickly, but
each one can have an effect on the greater whole. A lifetime of
seemingly mundane events can pass in what seems like the blink of an
eye until one looks back to examine them and realizes just how
much has filled the space.
|
When I think about Social Security on the eve of the program's 78th
anniversary, I am amazed by what a significant difference it has
made, one event at a time, one person at a time. Over Social
Security's long history, every single monthly payment has made a
difference to an American somewhere. But when you string those
payments together, it's remarkable what a huge and positive effect
Social Security has had on the people and economy of our nation.
Social Security has been a cornerstone of our nation, touching the
lives of almost every American at one time or another, for 78 years.
It's the most successful domestic program in our nation and,
arguably, the world.
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security
Act into law on Aug. 14, 1935, he said: "The civilization of the
past hundred years, with its startling industrial changes, has
tended more and more to make life insecure. Young people have come
to wonder what would be their lot when they came to old age. The man
with a job has wondered how long the job would last."
The same can be said of the current information age, with our
rapidly evolving digital revolution and periods of economic
instability. Social Security is a safety net cast to help those who
need it.
President Roosevelt knew that the cornerstone of his
administration would offer security, but he also understood that
Social Security would need to evolve as new changes challenged the
nation.
"This law, too, represents a cornerstone in a structure which is
being built but is by no means complete," he admitted. "It is, in
short, a law that will take care of human needs and at the same time
provide the United States an economic structure of vastly greater
soundness."
[to top of second column] |
Today, Social Security is much more than just a retirement program.
We provide benefits to disabled individuals and their families. We
provide survivors benefits to widows, widowers and the minor
children of deceased workers. We provide Supplemental Security
Income to aged and disabled people who have low income and
resources. We provide work incentives to help people work. We even
provide Extra Help with Medicare prescription drug costs. In so many
ways, Social Security benefits America.
Milestones come and milestones go. But looking back over the past
78 years of the nation's most important program, it is those
millions of individual moments -- the monthly benefit payments --
that have made a tremendous difference. In good times and bad, in
sickness and health, Social Security has helped Americans. Each
payment has helped someone, somewhere. But place them side by side
and the difference Social Security has made in the lives of
Americans is certainly something to celebrate.
Learn more about Social Security's rich history at
www.socialsecurity.gov/history. Become a part of Social
Security's history by doing business with us online at
www.socialsecurity.gov/onlineservices.
[By CAROLYN W. COLVIN,
Social Security Administration]
|