History Final

New Deal and Social Security Act

Angela Fasoli

Southern New Hampshire University

July 21, 2017

New Deal and Social Security Act

The New Deal and the Social Security Act is one of the fundamental laws that form the basis to aid both the old and the less fortunate individuals in the society. The Act is associated with one key historical trend that made it be legalized as a law. It involved the signing of this Act by the then President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935. It, therefore, became a law that the old individuals receive a portion of income after retirement in the government works. (Nancy, Rose, 1989). However, the Act has experienced numerous historical trends, like setting aside a certain amount of money while people are in their working age. This strategy allows them to save much only to be given to them after their retirement. The rationale behind the New Deal and Social Security is to improve the living standards of individuals in their old ages simply because they have no other source of income.

In relation to this, a new trend is intertwined to this New Deal Social Security Act. The emergence of insurance services has thrived in this sector with the main aim of promoting Social Security Act. Apparently, people have adopted the idea of investing their money in insurance firms in return of social security cover. It covers comprehensive related risks such as diseases, loss of property and death. Therefore with the occurrence of risk covered under the insurance policy the firm provide social security. A good example is when individuals save for their kids in an event they die. An insurance firm takes the responsibility stipulated by the insurance policy i.e. education cover. This is quite significant and it complements the idea of social security. (Jill, Quadagno, 1984).

The historical changes relating to this New Deal Social Security Act plays a major role in fulfilling individuals dreams as far as their social security is concerned. It symbolizes the exact experiences people had then. The aged in the society had no source of income and this was a big challenge. They raised the dependence ratio of the working population who had to take care of them. Therefore the social security Act played an essential role by lowering the dependency ratio. The mechanism allows people to save while working to support themselves in their old age. Insurance being a critical trend conclusively provides convenient services as well as other opportunities especially at these times of high risk. People take insurance cover of various risks which enhance the confidence of security in an event of loss.

Focusing on a historical event, on October 4th, 1929, United States experienced an ordeal. The market closed about 13million shares which were far from sales on a typical day. This was consequential in the sense that there was massive fall in share prices for two days. The stock market clashed leading to the Great Depression of the 1930s. This contributed to the election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt that was followed with the enactment of polices and legislations. The social security Act being one of them was aimed at ending the economic depression that had bit the country. The new laws were integrated with other economic factors. For instance, the Federal Reserve fund rates rose which had a lot of impact on the dollar. This was caused by the shift of investment from financial markets. (https://archive.org/details/fdrbig)

The social security Act was therefore brought forth as a mechanism that would provide assists the unemployed together with other vulnerable groups in the society. Some of the measures adopted were direct relief which was given for free. The legacy of the Act still exists in modern days. The emergence of the securities exchange commission is a good example. It is among the measures that prevent the occurrence of any situation similar to the great depression. On the other hand, the social security Act encouraged evolvement of social welfare system that has aided poor Americans. Clearly, the new deal together with social security Act emerged in order to end the economic depression of the 1930s. Nevertheless, other programs that were started are still functional.

References

Nancy E. Rose. (1989). Work Relief in the 1930s and the Origins of the Social Security Act,” Social Service Review 63, no. 1 (1989): 63–91.

FDR's Speech on Signing the Social Security Act. (1935). retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/fdrbig

Davis, K. S. (1986). FDR, the New Deal years, 1933-1937: a history (Vol. 2). Random House Incorporated.

Transcript of the Social Security Act (1935). Retrieved from: https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=68&page=transcript