Social Security Act - wikipedia Social Security Act Social Security Act of 1935 Other short titles SSA Long title The Social Security Act of 1935 Nicknames SSA Enacted by the 74th United States Congress Citations Statutes at Large Pub. L. 74 -- 271, 49 Stat. 620, enacted August 14, 1935 Codification U.S.C. sections created 42 U.S.C. ch. 7 Legislative history Introduced in the House as H.R. 7260 Passed the House on April 19, 1935 ( 372 - 33 ) Signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 14, 1935 Major amendments Social Security Amendments of 1965 Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999 United States Supreme Court cases Steward Machine Company v. Davis, Helvering v. Davis President Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into law on August 14, 1935. Main article : Social Security ( United States ) The Social Security Act of 1935 Pub. L. 74 -- 271, 49 Stat. 620, now codified as 42 U.S.C. ch. 7, created Social Security in the United States, and is relevant for US labor law. It created a basic right to a pension in old age, and insurance against unemployment. Contents 1 Background 2 Contents 2.1 Title I, old age 2.2 Title III, unemployment 2.3 Title IV, child aid 2.4 Title V, child welfare 2.5 Title VI, public health 2.6 Title X, blindness 3 Constitutional litigation 3.1 US Supreme Court cases 3.2 Other cases 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References Background In the Second New Deal, the Social Security Act was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 14, 1935. The act laid the groundwork for the modern welfare system in the United States, with its primary focus to provide aid for the elderly, the unemployed, and children. Industrialization and the urbanization in the 19th Century created many new social problems, and transformed ideas of how society and the government should function together because of them. As industry expanded, cities grew quickly to keep up with demand for labor. Tenement houses were built quickly and poorly, cramming new migrants from farms and Southern and Eastern European immigrants into tight and unhealthy spaces. Work spaces were even more unsafe. In 1890, Jacob Riis wrote that `` the quick change of economic conditions in the city... often out paces all plans of relief. '' Contents The Social Security Act has been amended significantly over time, but contains ten major titles. Title I, old age Title I is designed to give money to states to provide assistance to aged individuals Title III, unemployment Title III concerns unemployment insurance Title IV, child aid Title IV concerns Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Title V, child welfare Title V concerns Maternal and Child Welfare. Title VI, public health Title VI concerns public health services. Title X, blindness Title X concerns support for blind people. This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. ( September 2016 ) Constitutional litigation In the 1930s, the Supreme Court struck down many pieces of Roosevelt 's New Deal legislation, including the Railroad Retirement Act. The Court threw out a centerpiece of the New Deal, the National Industrial Recovery Act, the Agricultural Adjustment Act, and New York State 's minimum - wage law. President Roosevelt responded with an attempt to pack the court via the Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937. On February 5, 1937, he sent a special message to Congress proposing legislation granting the President new powers to add additional judges to all federal courts whenever there were sitting judges age 70 or older who refused to retire. The practical effect of this proposal was that the President would get to appoint six new Justices to the Supreme Court ( and 44 judges to lower federal courts ), thus instantly tipping the political balance on the Court dramatically in his favor. The debate on this proposal lasted over six months. Beginning with a set of decisions in March, April, and May 1937 ( including the Social Security Act cases ), the Court would sustain a series of New Deal legislation Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes played a leading role in defeating the court - packing by rushing these pieces of New Deal legislation through and ensuring that the court 's majority would uphold it. In March 1937, Associate Justice Owen Roberts, who had previously sided with the court 's four conservative justices, shocked the American public by siding with Hughes and the court 's three liberal justices in striking down the court 's previous decision in the 1923 case Adkins v. Children 's Hospital, which held that minimum wage laws were a violation of the Fifth Amendment 's due process clause and were thus unconstitutional, and upheld the constitutionality of Washington state 's minimum wage law in West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish. In 1936, Roberts joined the four conservative justices in using the Adkins decision to strike down a similar minimum wage law New York state enforced in Morehead v. New York ex rel. Tipaldo and his decision to reverse his previous vote in the Morehead decision would be known as the switch in time that saved nine. In spite of widespread speculation that Roberts only agreed to join the court 's majority in upholding New Deal legislation, such as the Social Security Act, during the spring of 1937 because of the court packing plan, Hughes wrote in his autobiographical notes that Roosevelt 's court reform proposal `` had not the slightest effect on our ( the court 's ) decision '' in the Parrish case and that the delayed announcement of the decision created the false impression that the Court had retreated under fire. Following the vast support that was demonstrated for the New Deal through Roosevelt 's re-election in 1936, Hughes persuaded Roberts to no longer base his decisions on political maneuvering and side with him in future cases that involved New Deal legislation Records show Roberts had indicated his desire to overturn the Adkins decision two days after oral arguments concluded for the Parrish case on December 19, 1936. During this time, however, the court was divided 4 - 4 following the initial conference call because Associate Justice Harlan Fiske Stone, one of the three liberal justices who continuously voted to uphold New Deal legislation, was absent due to an illness ; with this even division on the Court, the holding of the Washington Supreme Court, finding the minimum wage statute constitutional, would stand. As Hughes desired a clear and strong 5 -- 4 affirmation of the Washington Supreme Court judgment, rather than a 4 -- 4 default affirmation, he convinced the other justices to wait until Stone 's return before both deciding and announcing the case. US Supreme Court cases Two Supreme Court rulings affirmed the constitutionality of the Social Security Act. Steward Machine Company v. Davis, 301 U.S, 548 ( 1937 ) held, in a 5 -- 4 decision, that, given the exigencies of the Great Depression, `` ( It ) is too late today for the argument to be heard with tolerance that in a crisis so extreme the use of the moneys of the nation to relieve the unemployed and their dependents is a use for any purpose narrower than the promotion of the general welfare ''. The arguments opposed to the Social Security Act ( articulated by justices Butler, McReynolds, and Sutherland in their opinions ) were that the social security act went beyond the powers that were granted to the federal government in the Constitution. They argued that, by imposing a tax on employers that could be avoided only by contributing to a state unemployment - compensation fund, the federal government was essentially forcing each state to establish an unemployment - compensation fund that would meet its criteria, and that the federal government had no power to enact such a program. Helvering v. Davis, 301 U.S. 619 ( 1937 ), decided on the same day as Steward, upheld the program because `` The proceeds of both ( employee and employer ) taxes are to be paid into the Treasury like internal - revenue taxes generally, and are not earmarked in any way ''. That is, the Social Security Tax was constitutional as a mere exercise of Congress 's general taxation powers. Other cases Flemming v. Nestor, 363 US 603 ( 1960 ) upholding § 1104, allowing Congress to itself amend and revise the schedule of benefits. Further, however, recipients of benefits had no contractual rights to them. Goldberg v. Kelly 397 US 254 ( 1970 ) William Brennan, Jr. held there must be an evidentiary hearing before a recipient can be deprived of government benefits under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld ( 1975 ) held that a male widower should be entitled to his deceased wife 's benefit just as a female widow was entitled to a deceased husband 's, under the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. See also US labor law List of Social Security legislation ( United States ) Notes Jump up ^ `` History 1930 ''. Social Security Administration. Retrieved May 21, 2009. Jump up ^ Butler, Chris. `` '' The Social Impact of Industrialization, '' The Flow of History ``. Flow of History. Retrieved 24 October 2016. Jump up ^ Achene, Andrew ( 1986 ). Social Security Visions and Revisions. New York : Cambridge University Press. p. 25 - 6. Jump up ^ Supremecourthistory.org Archived October 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` Social Security Administration ''. Ssa.gov. Retrieved 2011 - 09 - 11. Jump up ^ www.historycooperative.org ( 11 ). Historycooperative.org. Retrieved on 2013 - 08 - 12. Jump up ^ 298 U.S. 587 ( 1936 ) ^ Jump up to : McKenna, Marian C. ( 2002 ). Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Constitutional War : The Court - packing Crisis of 1937. New York, NY : Fordham University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8232 - 2154 - 7. Jump up ^ `` Steward Machine Company vs. Davis, 301 U.S, 548 ''. Archived from the original on November 28, 2005. Retrieved December 3, 2005. References Franklin D. Roosevelt 32nd President of the United States ( 1933 -- 1945 ) 44th Governor of New York ( 1929 -- 1932 ) Assistant Secretary of the Navy ( 1913 -- 1920 ) New York State Senator ( 1911 -- 1913 ) Presidency Inaugurations ( 1st 2nd 3rd 4th ) New Deal overview New Deal coalition First 100 days Second New Deal Federal Emergency Relief Administration Civilian Conservation Corps Agricultural Adjustment Administration Emergency Banking Act Tennessee Valley Authority National Labor Relations Act National Industry Recovery Act Public Works Administration National Recovery Administration Works Progress Administration National Youth Administration Social Security Act Aid to Families with Dependent Children Communications Act of 1934 Federal Communications Commission Securities and Exchange Commission Monetary gold ownership Gold Reserve Act Silver seizure Record on civil rights Defense industry non-discrimination Fair Employment Practices Commission Indian Reorganization Act Executive Orders 9066, 9102 War Relocation Authority Japanese American internment German - American internment Italian - American internment Brownlow Committee Executive Office of the President G.I. Bill of Rights Cullen -- Harrison Act Roerich Pact Four Freedoms Four Freedoms Monument Black Cabinet Jefferson 's Birthday holiday Judicial Court - Packing Bill Federal Judicial appointments Supreme Court Cabinet `` Brain Trust '' Modern Oval Office Official car Criticism Presidential Foreign policy Banana Wars U.S. occupation of Nicaragua, 1912 -- 1933 U.S. occupation of Haiti, 1915 -- 1934 Good Neighbor Policy ( 1933 -- 1945 ) Montevideo Convention ( 1933 ) Second London Naval Treaty ( 1936 ) ABCD line ( 1940 ) Export Control Act Four Policemen Lend - Lease 1940 Selective Service Act Atlantic Charter ( 1941 ) Military history of the United States during World War II Home front during World War II Combined Munitions Assignments Board War Production Board Declaration by United Nations ( 1942 ) Dumbarton Oaks Conference World War II conferences Quebec Agreement Europe first Morgentau Plan support Presidential speeches Commonwealth Club Address Madison Square Garden speech `` Four Freedoms '' Infamy Speech Arsenal of Democracy ``... is fear itself '' Fireside chats `` Look to Norway '' Quarantine Speech `` The More Abundant Life '' Second Bill of Rights State of the Union Address ( 1934 1938 1939 1940 1941 1945 ) Other events Early life, education, career Warm Springs Institute Governorship of New York Business Plot Assassination attempt Elections New York state election, 1928 1930 Democratic National Convention, 1920 1924 1932 1936 1940 1944 United States presidential election, 1920 1932 theme song 1936 1940 1944 Life and homes Early life and education Groton School `` Springwood '' birthpace, home, and gravesite Campobello home Paralytic illness Top Cottage Little White House, Warm Springs, Georgia Legacy Presidential Library and Museum Roosevelt Institute Roosevelt Institute Campus Network Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Roosevelt Island Four Freedoms Park White House Roosevelt Room Roosevelt Study Center Four Freedoms Award Four Freedoms paintings Unfinished portrait U.S. Postage stamps Roosevelt dime Books Films The Roosevelt Story 1947 Sunrise at Campobello 1960 Eleanor and Franklin 1976, The White House Years 1977 World War II : When Lions Roared Warm Springs 2005 Hyde Park on Hudson 2012 The Roosevelts 2014 documentary Other namesakes Other works Roosevelt family Delano family Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( wife ) Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( daughter ) James Roosevelt II ( son ) Elliott Roosevelt ( son ) Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. ( son ) John Aspinwall Roosevelt II ( son ) Eleanor Roosevelt Seagraves ( granddaughter ) Curtis Roosevelt ( grandson ) Sara Delano Roosevelt ( granddaughter ) Franklin Delano Roosevelt III ( grandson ) John Roosevelt Boettiger ( grandson ) James Roosevelt III ( grandson ) James Roosevelt I ( father ) Sara Ann Delano ( mother ) James Roosevelt Roosevelt ( half - brother ) Isaac Roosevelt ( grandfather ) Jacobus Roosevelt ( great - grandfather ) Fala ( family dog ) ← Herbert Hoover Harry S. Truman → Social Security ( United States ) Key articles History of Social Security Social Security Administration Social Security number Assistance programs Disability Determination Services Retirement Insurance Benefits Social Security Disability Insurance Supplemental Security Income Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Ticket to Work Unemployment benefits Health care Medicaid Medicare SCHIP Law Disability fraud FICA Revenue Act of 1942 Social Security Act Social Security Amendments of 1965 Social Security Death Index Social Security Trust Fund Windfall Elimination Provision Other Legacy debt Numident Office of the Chief Actuary Primary Insurance Amount Social Security debate ( United States ) Social Security Wage Base Years of coverage Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Social_Security_Act&oldid=809502369 '' Categories : 1935 in law 1935 in the United States 74th United States Congress Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Use mdy dates from November 2015 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from January 2017 Articles to be expanded from September 2016 All articles to be expanded Articles using small message boxes Talk Contents About Wikipedia Español Euskara Français Italiano Nederlands Edit links This page was last edited on 9 November 2017, at 14 : 59. 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Question: the social security act which was part of the new deal legislation
Answer: Second New Deal,