Ninety years ago — on August 14, 1935 — President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law as part of his expansive New Deal reforms. In the former president’s words, it was imagined to “give some measure of protection to the average citizen, and to his family, against the loss of a job and against poverty-stricken old age.”
The Great Depression was still gripping the nation at the time. A fifth of the American workforce was unemployed, and millions of Americans — especially the elderly — fell into severe poverty with no social safety net. The Social Security Act was designed to change all that by offering financial security to retirees, the unemployed and others in need.
Today, an overwhelming majority of Americans across party and demographic lines oppose the idea of cutting Social Security benefits.
Jen Benson, AARP’s state director of Massachusetts, joined GBH’s All Things Considered host Arun Rath to discuss the impact of Social Security. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of their conversation.
Arun Rath: So first, tell us a bit more about AARP and the role that it plays in protecting Social Security.
Jen Benson: Well, as many people know, our whole goal at AARP is to make sure that people can age with dignity and with financial security in their later years.
Rath: From what you hear, what does the program mean to the people who rely on Social Security?
Benson: Especially this week as we travel the state to recognize the 90th anniversary of Social Security, I’ve heard so many personal stories from people who not only themselves rely on Social Security, but their parents did, and their grandparents did.
Stories about job losses, disabilities, then those retirement years and being able to make ends meet. Social Security is a lifeline for so many people, and it’s something that we continue to fight for at AARP.
Rath: And working as the head of AARP Massachusetts, how does the work you do at the state level connect with the national mission?
Benson: We work hand-in-hand with our national partners, and one of the most important things we do is educate. We educate the public about not only Social Security and its importance, but also what is happening right now and how they can be part of the solution in keeping Social Security strong for another 90 years or more.
Rath: Doubling back on the history — everyone loves Social Security right now, but at the time, that must have seemed exceptionally radical.
Benson: I can only imagine at the time when Social Security, as the first and biggest social safety net program, the United States entered into it must have seemed like: How can the government do this? How does this work? And I’m sure there was some level of distrust from people of a new government program, like we see today.
But we have to remember when this took place. And it took place at a time when overt poverty was hitting everybody, especially the elderly. And as people were adjusting to life coming out of the Depression, I think everybody realized more needed to be done.
Rath: And as you mentioned, there are threats to Social Security today. Could you frame that for us in terms of the future of Social Security — as you’re saying, hopefully the next 90 years?
Benson: First, I think it’s important to understand how pervasively Social Security has entered our psyche as Americans. It is the most popular and most trusted program across the United States.
And Social Security has never missed a payment in 90 years. So it’s important to remember that the solidity of Social Security is strong. It’s been here. And whether it’s been Republicans or Democrats in Congress, people have come together to keep the program strong. And we have every intention to usher in the next level of strengthening Social Security through Congress.
So, what are some of the challenges right now? We know that in the next eight years, Congress will need to act. Around 2033, Social Security will only have about 80% of the money it needs to make full payments. So when people hear about the possibility of reduced payments down the road, this is what they’re referring to.
Rath: What do we do to make sure that doesn’t happen?
Benson: Well, the good news is: Social Security, in and of itself, is not going broke. We’re all paying into it. Our feeling is, this is our money. We’re all paying in, and we want 100% of those promises made to us. So Congress needs to act in order to ensure that the Social Security Trust Fund is strong, backed up and can continue paying 100% of those payments to the public.
Rath: It sounds like you are optimistic about Social Security’s future. And as you mentioned, it’s an incredibly popular government program. With that, though, how would you rate the challenges? It doesn’t sound like we should be complacent, either.
Benson: We absolutely shouldn’t be complacent. And that’s part of what AARP has been working on for decades. First, making sure the public understands that Social Security still needs work. It needs the guidance of Congress to keep it strong. Our work is to educate the public about that and encourage the public to talk to their members of Congress about how important Social Security is for them and their families.
And that is what we do. We advocate, we educate and we make sure Congress understands: “Hey, we’re on a timeline. We need you to act before this timeline is up.”
And we’re not dictating to Congress how they do it, but we’re encouraging them to come up with a solution, which we will review and help in any way we can.
