Social Security at 75: What will it look like in another 75 years?

Submitted on April 13, 2011

By Mark Pattison | Catholic News Service

Jeanne O’Brien, a Society of St. Vincent de Paul volunteer, spoke with a resident of Ozanam Manor, a transitional housing program for homeless men and women age 50 and older in Phoenix. The number of homeless in that age group is increasing, according to a report by the National Coalition for the Homeless. In general, though, Social Security benefits have eased financial hardships for older adults in America.

CNS photo/Andrew Junker, The Catholic Sun

WASHINGTON — It seems like it has been around forever, but Social Security is only 75 years old. Granted, few Americans who were born before Social Security started have never deposited a Social Security check, although it is an open question whether Social Security will be in a form today's workers would recognize 75 years from now. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law in 1935, it was seen as a bold social experiment that put money into the hands of the nation's retirees.