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Encyclopedia entry: Social Security Administration
- Article from:
- The Oxford Guide to the United States Government
- Author:
Copyright© The Oxford Guide to the United States Government 2001, originally published by Oxford University Press 2001. (Hide copyright information)
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Social Security Administration
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, some of the poorest Americans were the oldest. Many people had failed to save adequately for their retirement; others suffered illnesses that consumed their savings. Reformers called for the government to establish old-age pensions, arguing that when elderly people spent these funds they would help the economy recover. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed and Congress enacted the Social Security Act of 1935. Originally, the act created a Social Security Board, but in 1946 it was renamed the Social Security Administration
(SAA)
. For many years it operated as part of the Department of Health, Education, and ...