The Atlantic
Buried deep in the latest pandemic stimulus package is a transformative idea for helping families.
This article was published online on May 3, 2021.
On August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law one of the most successful anti-poverty programs in the nation’s history. The Social Security Act’s old-age benefit was founded on a moral certainty: It was wrong that elderly Americans might suffer destitution when they were no longer able to work. The act promised that every worker would be able to count on support as they aged, however their fortunes might change. The program was contentious at the time, but its passage was enabled by the rare circumstance of the Great Depression. The benefit for older Americans has expanded over time to become part of the basic infrastructure of American life. By one estimate, nearly 40 percent of all elderly people today would fall into poverty without it.