The Social Security Act of 1935, enacted during President Franklin D. Roosevelt, has become a third rail in today’s American society. By third rail, various scholars explain that if a politician these days were to try to alter or change the structure of the law dramatically, then they could essentially destroy their political career. One must understand how the United States gained this transformative law through our country’s history, both the official and non official actors involved in enacting the act, different alternatives to the policy, how it was implemented, and the changes it has faced since 1935. Every step taken from the emerging issue that brought the Social Security Act to life, to the controversies it faces today; have to be…
The provisions of ERISA, which are administered by the U.S. Department of Labor, were enacted to address public concern that funds of private pension plans were being mismanaged and abused. ERISA was the culmination of a long line of legislation concerned with the labor and tax aspects of employee benefit plans.…
Congress passed the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) in 1990 which revised the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) to defend older workers’ employee benefits from age discrimination. The OWBPA necessitates employers to follow a firm timeline to get a valid release of any age discrimination claims. The OWBPA also entails employers to deliver additional and thorough information when two or more employees are terminated at or around the same time. Increasingly, a number of companies have persuaded their older workers to retire earlier than anticipated by offering a seemingly generous retirement package. As a condition granting a generous early retirement incentive, employers have required that the employees…
1. Appellee, the Southern Coal & Coke Co., is a Delaware corporation employing more than eight persons in its business of coal mining in Alabama.…
Social Security was established in 1935 and has been the largest social welfare program in the United States since. Its intended outcomes and funding comes from mandatory insurance system that levies a tax on payrolls and matched funds with the contributions of employers that are kept in a trust fund that pays retirement pensions based on prior earnings in the labor market. The targeted population is for workers that have reached the age of 66 or born after 1942. They receive a pension through the social security program, but also through private supplemental savings and pensions (Jillian Jimenez, 2012).…
Just like any system/machine working constantly for a long period, the Social Security system has long been in problem of solvency and in need for a maintenance/reform. However, this particular type of system/machine is unique in term of it never goes broke but rather being in serious trouble, as discussed in Bergman’s article…
This policy analysis is based on the Social Security Act of 1935. This analysis will help you explore the difficulties of the American people prior to the Social security act of 1935 and the also the later years. This analysis will explain the importance of the Social Security Policy for population and how the policy will continue to have an effect on the society. The Social Security Act was initially put in place for people suffering from unemployment. Now, the social security act of 1935 regulates the provision of benefits to people to meet basic life needs, such as employment, income, food, housing, and healthcare.…
The debate on the privatization of Social Security is a controversial one with advocates for both sides. When Franklin Roosevelt signed off on a bill on August 14, 1935, known as the Social Security Act, a social insurance system was created where workers' would allocate a small portion of their earned wages to enable financial protection for when they retire (See Figure 1) (Privatizing Social Security). It specifically states that its purpose was "to provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of Federal old-age benefits, and by enabling the several States to make more adequate provision for aged persons, blind persons, dependent and crippled children” and others (H. R. 7260). Today, it has evolved to a government program which provides income benefits to millions of…
The Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA, is a federal statute that applies to the United States. It is sometimes called the Wages and Hours Bill. It helps employees engaged in interstate commerce or those who work for a enterprise who is involved in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, unless the employer can make a claim and be found exempt from coverage. The FLSA established a national minimum wage, employees were promised 'time and a half' for overtime in certain jobs, and prohibited most employment of minor in "oppressive child labor," a term that is defined in the statute as, in more or less words, extremely rigorous labor.…
The abolishment of mandatory retirement has been under construction for quite some time now. The Ontario Human Rights Commission released the paper: “Time for Action – Advancing Human Rights for Older Ontarians” in June 2001. They argued that mandatory retirement policies “undermine the dignity and self worth of older employees” and that the definition of age under employment of the Human Rights Code should be changed.2 The Code defined “age” for employment purposes as being eighteen years or older but younger than sixty-five years. This meant that employers were able to discriminate against a person in employment situations if they were 65 or over. Bill 211…
A severance package is pay and benefits an employee receives when he or she leaves employment at a company. Unlike a severance pay, a pension is a contract for a fixed sum to be paid regularly to a person. This payment is usually given after retirement. Furthermore, pension plans are used to provide a source of income after retirement after these public employees are no longer receiving a steady income. Established in 1932 by state law, California’s public pension plan set out to ensure the financial security of retirees. Although this system may have worked then, over time society has changed and the public pension plan not adapted with the times. One of the biggest problems is that these pensions were negotiated years ago and it is hard to change now. Currently the California Public Employees' Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System service at least 3,000 public employees and as of 2011 employed 2,366 people. However, these systems are at least $165 billion underfunded. Although the California public pension system has many benefits, this system also has many flaws that, without reform, will lead California into major debt.…
During the 1930s the Great Depression provoked the ugly crisis in the nation's economic life. The Great Depression left millions people unemployed, and with no money. It was a hard time to American since the majority of people were becoming homeless. América Changed dramatically banks were out of business, and saving accounts vanished. Also businesses went bankrupt; therefore most of the people in america were unemployed. The hard work of president Franklin Roosevelt, and other senators help creating safeness for all americans call social security act of 1935. In the book “ Our Document” by Michael Beschloss he discusses how Social Security act was created, and the benefits of it. This acts was to help the older age pension, welfare, and unemployment. This act was to provide security for the individual and his family, and to provide relief after the Great Depression.…
The Social security act of 1935 was inducted after the stock market crash of 1929 and the great depression. The views of the populace changed enormously in politics, society, and the overall economic situations, at this time in our nation’s history. The social security act was separated into two main sections. One of these is social insurance, and the other is public assistance. As explained in the Social Welfare Policy book, the intention of the act was to “…respond to the immediate crisis of unemployment…lay a firmer economic foundation so that no future economic upheaval would have the same impact on the populace”. (Segal, 241).…
The Welfare Reform Act, also known as the “The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996”, was intentionally designed to help needy families with children dependents and/or people receiving Supplemental Security Income with cash benefits, who in turn would be eligible for Medicaid Health Insurance (Valerius, Bayes, Newby, & Seggern, 2008). The Welfare Reform Act replaced a program called “AFDC (Aid to families with dependent children)” with another program (which many of us are familiar with) called “TANF”; Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. Now in order for one to receive or to even become a candidate for TANF, there are certain “guidelines” or stipulations that have to be met. First and foremost, to qualify for TANF a person has to have qualifying dependents; as well as earned or unearned Income not exceeding a certain amount set by TANF. Second, to take part in the TANF program one must be willing (if it falls under his or her state statue) to seek obtainable employment.…
Social Security, which has been an entitlement program since 1937, is in danger of having inadequate funding for future retirees. This iconic program that almost everyone is counting on to help fund his or her retirement is paying out more money than it collects (Sanger-Katz). Opportunities to help Social Security remain a viable entitlement program lie within our abilities to revise existing policies that are currently unsuccessful. Our current Social Security structure requires reform to secure the necessary resources to fund this failing system. Eliminating the tax cap maximum, raising the minimum retirement age, and introducing means testing are policy shifts that will provide the needed changes to restore the Social Security system. Americans are…