Social Security Celebrates 75 Years
On Saturday, August 14, 2010, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will celebrate 75 years of providing social insurance to Americans in the form of retirement, disability and survivor benefits. The program was inked in the heart of the Great Depression by former President Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of his “New Deal” program. After signing, he summed up the purpose of the SSA:
“The civilization of the past hundred years, with its startling industrial changes, has tended more and more to make life insecure. Young people have come to wonder what would be their lot when they came to old age. The man with a job has wondered how long the job would last. This law, too, represents a cornerstone in a structure which is being built but is by no means complete. It is, in short, a law that will take care of human needs and at the same time provide the United States an economic structure of vastly greater soundness.”
After only 18 months in operation, the first Social Security benefit was paid to Ernest Ackerman. He received a one-time, lump sum payout of 17 cents. The first person to receive monthly retirement benefits was Ida May Fuller of Brattleboro, Vt. Her first check, dated January 31, 1940, was in the amount of $22.54. Mary Thompson, a widow with two children, became the 1 millionth Social Security beneficiary in 1944.
The SSA had humble beginnings. The original Social Security Board consisted of three presidentially appointed executives, and started with no budget, no staff and no furniture. Today’s SSA has 10 regional offices, eight processing centers, approximately 1,300 field offices, and 37 Teleservice Centers. Approximately 62,000 (2007) people are employed by the SSA.
