History of the United States II / Unit 11 USH2 1538 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Social Security Act
Captions available
The idea
The Social Security Act of August nineteen thirty-five created federal old-age pensions for workers over sixty-five, paid through a tax on employee and employer alike, and unemployment insurance.
In practice
Aid for dependent children, blind people and people with disabilities.
Where people slip
The Yawp says Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins championed it. Conservatives, Digital History says, called it the road to socialism.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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