I think there are far too many people getting Social Security benefits. So I have a plan. I believe that in order to save the program, we need to take Social Security back to its original intentions. If we went back to the first Social Security law, who would no longer qualify for Social Security benefits?
A: Well if you really mean when the program first started, in other words, the original Social Security Act passed in 1935, then all we would have is retirement benefits for people 65 and older who were totally retired. That’s it. Period. Nothing else!
That means we would have no early retirement benefits at age 62. Those millions of people getting early retirement benefits could kiss their checks goodbye.
It also would mean we would not pay benefits to anyone 65 and older if they were still working. The original Social Security law required that you must be completely retired to collect benefits. So tough luck for all the working seniors out there.
Oh, and there would be no extra bonus for people who delay taking benefits until a later age. Millions of seniors currently plan to work until 70 to get a 32 percent bonus added to their checks. Your plan would turn off that incentive to delay retirement.
There would be no benefits for spouses or widows or widowers. And if a young worker dies and leaves small children, then the kids are outta luck. No government benefits for them.
And there would be no disability benefits. So if you have a heart attack at age 60 and can’t work, well, that’s just too bad. You would have to wait five more years to collect your Social Security, assuming you live that long.
I could go on and on. There are tens of millions of people getting Social Security benefits today who would not qualify for anything under the original Social Security law. So do you really think your plan is a good one? I will answer that question. No, it is not!
But, sad to say, you are not alone in your thinking. I hear from many people who say we should go back to the “good old original Social Security.” As another person said to me in a recent email: “When it comes to Social Security today, Congress has added on too many goodies for too many undeserving people.”
But I would make the point that Social Security expanded over the years not because Congress was looking for ways to give handouts to freeloaders, but because a caring and compassionate society should provide for its citizens’ legitimate needs. That’s why today we have Social Security benefits for working seniors, for spouses and widows, for orphaned children, for divorced women and for disabled workers.
I am doing a research paper on the growth of Social Security over the history of the program. Can you provide me with a list of all the changes that have been made to Social Security?
A: Obviously, I used your question in this column because it dovetails nicely with the first question.
I don’t think you want me to give you a list of “all” the changes because that list could fill a book. That’s because Congress passes amendments to the Social Security law almost every year. But most of those are relatively minor or technical changes that really have no significant impact on the program or the benefits paid. But I will give you a short list of the major amendments to the Social Security Act and what those changes wrought.
1935, the original Social Security Act: Provided benefits for retirees at age 65 and nothing else.
1939 amendments: Added benefits for dependent wives age 65 and older and for the minor children of retirees. Also added benefits to widows age 65 and older and to surviving minor children of a worker who died. And included benefits for widows at any age if caring for a minor child.
1950 amendments: Added benefits for dependent husbands age 65 and older and widowers age 65 and older.
1956 amendments: Lowered the age at which a woman can get retirement benefits to 62. Also lowered the age at which a husband or wife can get spousal or widow’s benefit to 62. Added disability benefits to disabled workers between ages 50 and 64.
1960 amendments: Expanded disability benefits to a disabled worker of any age as long as long as he or she was “insured.”
1961 amendments: Lowered the age at which a man can get retirement benefits to 62. Also lowered the widower’s age to 62.
1965 amendments: Lowered the age at which a woman can get widow’s benefits to 60. Added benefits for surviving children between ages 18 and 21. Added benefits for divorced women if they were married for 20 years. Also added the Medicare program.
1968 amendments: Lowered the age at which a woman could collect widow’s benefits to 50 if she was disabled.
1977 amendments: Lowered the duration of marriage requirement for divorced spouses from 20 years to 10 years.
1983 amendments: Raised the retirement age to 67 over a 50-year period. Children’s benefits eliminated for ages 18-21. Added benefits for fathers caring for minor children.
As I said, these are just highlights from the 80-year history of amendments to the original Social Security Act of 1935.
