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After 77 Years, Social Security Still Crucial for Women
http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/08/14/after-77-years-social-security-still-crucial-for-women/
Social Security turns 77 years old today, but there’s hardly a wrinkle on the system. Sure, the government program has been a passionate talking point for numerous politicians over the last seven decades—with some eager to reform, privatize or dismantle it altogether—but Social Security continues to be one of America’s most successful anti-poverty programs. During the 1930s, the decade in which it was devised, at least half of American senior citizens lived in poverty; today, that percentage has dwindled to about 9 percent.
You have Frances Perkins, the first woman Secretary of Labor (actually the first woman to hold any Cabinet post), to thank for that.
Known as the “godmother of Social Security,” Perkins, a hard-edged defender of the working class who also fought for minimum wage laws during her tenure, was instrumental in designing and enacting the Social Security Act of 1935. As chair of the Committee on Economic Security, Perkins was responsible for streamlining the legislation and overseeing the reports and hearings that eventually resulted in the landmark program.
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Social Security Act was meant to alleviate the growing financial burdens plaguing Americans—particularly the elderly, the unemployed and widows with children—during the Great Depression. Most women, however, were excluded from old-age pensions and unemployment benefits at the time, as employees were typically categorized as white men. (Widows were able to receive survivor benefits starting in 1939.)
...
Social Security turns 77 years old today, but there’s hardly a wrinkle on the system. Sure, the government program has been a passionate talking point for numerous politicians over the last seven decades—with some eager to reform, privatize or dismantle it altogether—but Social Security continues to be one of America’s most successful anti-poverty programs. During the 1930s, the decade in which it was devised, at least half of American senior citizens lived in poverty; today, that percentage has dwindled to about 9 percent.
You have Frances Perkins, the first woman Secretary of Labor (actually the first woman to hold any Cabinet post), to thank for that.
Known as the “godmother of Social Security,” Perkins, a hard-edged defender of the working class who also fought for minimum wage laws during her tenure, was instrumental in designing and enacting the Social Security Act of 1935. As chair of the Committee on Economic Security, Perkins was responsible for streamlining the legislation and overseeing the reports and hearings that eventually resulted in the landmark program.
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Social Security Act was meant to alleviate the growing financial burdens plaguing Americans—particularly the elderly, the unemployed and widows with children—during the Great Depression. Most women, however, were excluded from old-age pensions and unemployment benefits at the time, as employees were typically categorized as white men. (Widows were able to receive survivor benefits starting in 1939.)
...
