Social Security: The Need for Change

Paper Summary:

An examination of the reasons why Social Security was enacted, the history of the program, Social Security today and its possible future. The author discusses the various reforms and improvements which are being currently proposed and concludes that the Social Security System is in need of many financial reforms as well as rule changes to create greater equality among beneficiaries in a changing society.

From the Paper:

"The history of Social Security began with the idea of Land grants provided by Federal funds. The first Federal Grant was made in 1785 for establishing public schools in the Northwest Territory. In 1787, the Northwest Ordinance endowed States and territorial universities with land grants. From that time through the 1850s many Federally Funded hospitals, schools and public institutions were formed. The 1860 US Census reported 849,000 persons to be 65 or older. That was then 2% of the entire United States population (SSA, history, 2002).
The first private pension plan in American Industry was adopted in 1875 by American Express. It provided benefits for persons who had been with the company for twenty years and who were over 60 years of age and had become unable to perform their job (SSA, history, 2002). This was the model after which the Social Security Program was modeled."

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