Evening star., 1938-12-10
Social Security
Council Drafts
Broader Plan
Change in Tax Is Not
Contemplated at This
Time, However
BACKGROUND

social security pTOgTuW uppOOeu
by Congress in 1885, ranking in
importance NTH the Federal
State unemployment compensa-
ton set-up. Thus tar no changes
haze been made in the omnibus
ldD, but the initiative for those
noD contemplated has come from
the administration 1Uith the Ad-
Disory Council and special
congressional committee engag-
ing in studies to this end.
By the Associated Press.
The Social Security Advisory
Council drafted today sweeping
recommendations for broadening
the Governments old-age insurance
system.
While the councils official report
will not be made public until some
time next week, informed persons
said its principal recommendations
would include:
l. Provision for monthly pay
ments to the widows and dependent
children of workers covered by the
Social Security Act and for 5000
funeral expenses to the families of
covered" workers who die before
reaching the age of IS.
2. Some provision for the wives
and dependent children of those
over IS receiving monthly payments.
CThis would be designed to aid the
families of retired workers whose
incomes under the system may be
only $50 or $40 month-too small
to provide the necessities of life for
more than one person.
3. Move the date for beginning
old-age payments up from Janu-
ary /, 1912, to January l, 1910.
4. Broaden the act to include i'm
mediately 100000 seamen and
workers in banks. charitable and
religious organizations.
S. Broaden the act later to in
clude, probably in 1941, an esti-
mated 100000 farm and domestic
workers.
6. Provide that payments to mar
ried men lover So be $40 more
a month than those to single men.
tThus the top limit for married men
would be s85 month and the bot
tom $40. The limits for single men
would be SIS and $1O)
The present scale of payments is
fixed in the law at $40 to $85 and is
the same for both single and married
men. Thus the. proposed change
amounts to reducing by $40 a month
the sam which would be paid un-
married men.
Would Free Funds.
The sixth provision was decided
on, it was understood. to reduce the
total amount which operation of the
insurance system will cost, beginning
in 1910, and thus free some funds
to help finance the proposed new
aids to wives, widows and children.
Informed persons said, however
expansion of financial assistance to
wives, widows and children would
raise costs to such an extent that
the Government probably would
have to put in funds from other
sources unless the social security tax
system was revised
One suggested solution, they said,
was that the increased costs be di-
vided equally among participating
employers and employees and the
Government. Each worker now
covered is taxed l per cent of his
salary and an equal sum is paid by
his employer.
The council members were re-
ported to have decided against any
revision of the tax system at this
time because they believed changes
could be worked out more intelli-
gently after actual operations for
two or three years.
Tighten Family Burden.
The idea OF paying for funerals
of workers in the low-income group
was decided on, it was said, In
order to take that financial burden
of families little able to bear it.
Demands have been made in the
past by some members of Congress,
among them Senator Vandenberg,
Republican, of Michigan, that the
old-age levies be limited to their
present rate instead of increasing
after 1899, as the law now provides.
Senator Vandenberg has contended
such change would leave sufi-
cient revenue to pay as you go" for
oh-age pensions. but would not pile
UP an excessive reserve fund. He
estimated the reserve under the
present system would amount to
SAT .000, 100000 by $780,
Members of the Advisory Council
declined to be quoted by name. but
said privately they favored letting
(See SOCIAL, SECURITY paoe A-Al