What is Social Security? A Brief History…
June 14, 2009
Social security programs first appeared in Europe in response to families moving from farming to working for others as the world became industrialized. Germany established the first social security program way back in 1889.
In the United States, the Great Depression triggered an economic crisis that caused millions of seniors to become impoverished. President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed the Social Security Act in 1935 in an attempt to provide economic security for the elderly.
Under the original Social Security retirement program, only workers received benefits , and only retirement benefits (there were no survivor or disbility benefits under the original Social Security program). In 1939, the act was amended to provide benefits to spouses and children for both retired and deceased workers.
The monthly retirement benefit didn’t begin until 1940, and the first recipient was Ida May Fuller, a retired legal secretary. Ida May continued to receive benefits until she died at age 100.