The birth of a safety net
How the money flows
Calculating your slice of the pie
Global cousins and future paths
YOUR GOAL
Master of How social security works
hank Social Security Safety Net
Your contributions pave the way, for a safety net through all their days. Ensuring futures, strong and true, for retirees, thanks to you.
hank President Roosevelt signed the historic act in August 1935, creating a federal safety net funded by payroll taxes.
hank The economic devastation of the 1930s left millions of elderly Americans destitute, prompting calls for a federal safety net.
hank Catch falling workers with cushions to discover how Social Security protects families from income loss.
First tax payment: The very first Social Security tax payment was just 17 cents, paid by a trolley conductor in 1937.
Which US President signed the bill that added disability insurance to Social Security in 1956?
In what year did US President Franklin D. Roosevelt sign the Social Security Act into law?
What benefits were added to the US Social Security system in 1939, four years after the initial act?
How much was the very first monthly US Social Security retirement check issued to Ida May Fuller?