Social Security in the USA: Difference between revisions
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'''Social Security''' is the major federal welfare program in the United States. Started in 1935 as part of the [[New Deal]], it grew steadily in scope and cost. It primarily provides income for retired people, medical benefits for them ("Medicare"), and benefits for the disabled. It is funded by a tax on payrolls, with employer and employee paying equal shares (currently about 7%). | '''Social Security''' is the major federal welfare program in the United States. Started in 1935 as part of the [[New Deal]], it grew steadily in scope and cost. It primarily provides income for retired people, medical benefits for them ("Medicare"), and benefits for the disabled. It is funded by a tax on payrolls, with employer and employee paying equal shares (currently about 7%). | ||
==Social Security Reform 1983== | |||
Mounting concerns that rising Social Security benefits were causing a long-term deficit and were growing too fast resulted in a bipartisan compromise in 1983. Brokered by conservative [[Alan Greenspan]] and liberal [[Claude Pepper]], the agreement lowered benefits over the next 75 years and brought the system into balance. Key provisions included a gradual increase over 25 years in the retirement age from 65 to 67, to take account of longer life expectancy. (People could retire younger, but at a reduced rate of benefits.) Millions of people were added to the system, especially employees of state governments and of nonprofit organizations.<ref> 1983 Greenspan Commission on Social Security Reform (1983) [http://www.ssa.gov/history/reports/gspan5.html online version]; "Claude Pepper and Social Security Reform - 1981-1983," [http://www.claudepeppercenter.fsu.edu/webexhibits/socialsecurityreform/socialsecurityreform1981to1983.htm online exhibit]; Paul Charles Light, ''Artful Work: The Politics of Social Security Reform'' (1985)</ref> | Mounting concerns that rising Social Security benefits were causing a long-term deficit and were growing too fast resulted in a bipartisan compromise in 1983. Brokered by conservative [[Alan Greenspan]] and liberal [[Claude Pepper]], the agreement lowered benefits over the next 75 years and brought the system into balance. Key provisions included a gradual increase over 25 years in the retirement age from 65 to 67, to take account of longer life expectancy. (People could retire younger, but at a reduced rate of benefits.) Millions of people were added to the system, especially employees of state governments and of nonprofit organizations.<ref> 1983 Greenspan Commission on Social Security Reform (1983) [http://www.ssa.gov/history/reports/gspan5.html online version]; "Claude Pepper and Social Security Reform - 1981-1983," [http://www.claudepeppercenter.fsu.edu/webexhibits/socialsecurityreform/socialsecurityreform1981to1983.htm online exhibit]; Paul Charles Light, ''Artful Work: The Politics of Social Security Reform'' (1985)</ref> | ||
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* Weir, Margaret, Ann Orloff, and Theda Skocpol, eds., ''The Politics of Social Policy in the United States,'' Princeton University Press. 1988 | * Weir, Margaret, Ann Orloff, and Theda Skocpol, eds., ''The Politics of Social Policy in the United States,'' Princeton University Press. 1988 | ||
==References== | |||
<references/> | |||
[[Category:CZ Live]] | |||
[[Category:Politics]] | |||
[[Category:History]] | |||
Revision as of 12:12, 23 May 2007
Social Security is the major federal welfare program in the United States. Started in 1935 as part of the New Deal, it grew steadily in scope and cost. It primarily provides income for retired people, medical benefits for them ("Medicare"), and benefits for the disabled. It is funded by a tax on payrolls, with employer and employee paying equal shares (currently about 7%).
Social Security Reform 1983
Mounting concerns that rising Social Security benefits were causing a long-term deficit and were growing too fast resulted in a bipartisan compromise in 1983. Brokered by conservative Alan Greenspan and liberal Claude Pepper, the agreement lowered benefits over the next 75 years and brought the system into balance. Key provisions included a gradual increase over 25 years in the retirement age from 65 to 67, to take account of longer life expectancy. (People could retire younger, but at a reduced rate of benefits.) Millions of people were added to the system, especially employees of state governments and of nonprofit organizations.[1]
External Links
Bibliography
- Altmeyer Arthur J. The Formative Years of Social Security. University of Wisconsin Press. 1966.
- Amenta Edwin, and Sunita Parikh. 1991. "Capitalists Did Not Want the Social Security Act: A Critique of the 'Capitalist Dominance' Thesis." American Sociological Review 56: 124-29.
- Berkowitz Edward D. America's Welfare State: From Roosevelt to Reagan. Johns Hopkins University Press. 1991
- Berkowitz Edward D. and Eric R. Kingson. Social Security and Medicare: A Policy Primer. Auburn House. 1993 online 214 pp
- Michael Boskin, Too Many Promises: The Uncertain Future of Social Security (1986).
- Graebner, William. A History of Retirement: The Meaning and Function of an American Institution, 1885-1978. Yale University Press. 1980
- Gratton, Brian. Urban Elders: Family, Work, and Welfare Among Boston's Aged, 1890-1950. Temple University Press. 1986.
- Jenkins, Shirley et al, eds. Social Security in International Perspective: Essays in Honor of Eveline M. Burns Columbia University Press, 1969 online
- Katz Michael B. In the Shadow of the Poorhouse: A Social History of Welfare in America. 1986.
- Light, Charles. Artful Work: The Politics of Social Security Reform (1985) regarding 1983 reforms
- Lubove Roy. The Struggle for Social Security, 1900-1935. 2d ed. University of Pittsburgh Press. 1986.
- Martin, Patricia P. and David A. Weaver. "Social Security: A Program and Policy History," Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 66 No. 1, 2005 online version
- Meriam, Lewis. Relief and Social Security The Brookings Institution, 1946 online edition
- Myers, Robert J. Social Security. University of Pennsylvania Press. 1993.
- Nash Gerald D., Noel J. Pugach, and Richard F. Tomasson, eds. Social Security: The First Half-Century. U of New Mexico Press. 1988.
- Quadagno Jill S. "Welfare Capitalism and the Social Security Act of 1935." American Sociological Review 1984 49: 632-47.
- Quadagno Jill S. The Transformation of Old Age Security: Class and Politics in the American Welfare State. University of Chicago Press. 1988
- Schieber, Sylvester J., and John B. Shoven. The Real Deal. Yale University Press 1999.
- Skidmore, Max J. Social Security and Its Enemies: The Case for America's Most Efficient Insurance Program (1999)online edition
- Skocpol Theda, and Kenneth Finegold. "State Capacity and Economic Intervention in the Early New Deal." Political Science Quarterly (1982) 97: 255-78.
- Tanner, Michael D. Social Security and Its Discontents: Perspectives on Choice Cato Institute, 2004 online libertarian criticism
- Sheryl R. Tynes; Turning Points in Social Security: From "Cruel Hoax" to "Sacred Entitlement" Stanford University, 1996 online edition
- Weir, Margaret, Ann Orloff, and Theda Skocpol, eds., The Politics of Social Policy in the United States, Princeton University Press. 1988
References
- ↑ 1983 Greenspan Commission on Social Security Reform (1983) online version; "Claude Pepper and Social Security Reform - 1981-1983," online exhibit; Paul Charles Light, Artful Work: The Politics of Social Security Reform (1985)