The Wilmington morning star., 1943-06-27
WIDER SECURITY
PLAN CONSIDERED
Now Measure Would In
,,ease The Number Re-
ceiiving Benefits

rxnansion of the present Social
Drirv IN program, with view to.
'e.r .d aiding postwar reconstruc.
%s.O is now under consideration o1
aress (lOli The Wagner Murray.
..:ase1l .o.s bill, recently introduced,
Dlila naoses changes which, if affect.
will greatly increase the num-
sa, ~, of persons receiving social in.
oe. ronce benefits, according to N
.ul Avera, manager of the Will
a, s,;rgton Field office.
nl-5S II extended. the program will
r.r the following fields: cover
sss'tf ss for agricultural labor, domes-
as' ,arvice and the public employ.
~ ". help to non-profit institutions
~, a the self Employed; simplifi-
n+ion 'i's and unification of the pres
.a4' at Federal-State system; insur'
sn nce of wage earners and their
s.oe ssaoeodents against loss caused by
laabilitv. either permanent OF
.aronorarv: a,ra and aid to needy
'sl aonlp not eligible for orner as
2eVp .epnce Roughly 100000 mem.
hors of the armed forces, as well
w. w tbeir wives and families, would
po %s aided toward postwar recon
w eviction should the desired chang
~ ~ On through. it was said.
g At present, there are two social
Insurance programs. both operat,
Cd under the Social Security act
b,1t independent of each other; the
old.age and survivors insurance,
odministered by the Federal gov.
ernment. providing some workers
md their families protection
seainst loss of income due to ole
aop and premature death; and un
omnlovnent insurance, a Federal
STATE program administered by
each state.
The boards recommendation has
=, its objective a single, unified
Comprehensive system Of contribu
torv social insurance which Woulc
nrovide a minimum basic security
for all workers. and greatly sim
plifv the present program. Benefi
rights would be uniform through
out the country, administrative
costs would be minimized, n
employers would have only one
report to send to the local office
Government employees, includ
ing members of the armed forces
receive no protection from socia
security. In fact, for soldiers Che
measure is retroactive in t h
benefits once gained may be lost
Suppose that John Smith, age
26. married, has worked five year!
in covered employment earning
$50 a month. He entered h
Army on January /, 1912, Whe1
his primary social security bene
tit would have been $3.50 pei
month. As he continues in service
the primary benefit decreases. I
he stays in the Army five year
and dies shortly after that period
still in government employ, hi
widow or children could collect nj
insurance payments because hi
extended period of insurance sta
tus would have expired through
the, lapse of over five years from
co1Sred employment.
Under the terms Of the presen
act agricultural workers are ex
l1ied. During 1910, 1941, NJ
lal between four and five mil
.1 workers were engaged in non
gvered agricultural employment
ifore the war most of these pei
Dns were male whites. Now NOR
Fomen, Negroes, and Mexican
are taking farm jobs. Some
hese employees have been in CO,
ered employment short time
now, however, they lose all benz
fits of the insurance program.
they were to be included, thei
future would be provided for an
they would not have to be de
pendent all their lives on MONTH
wages once received, it was sale
TIE average monthly farm wag
in October, 1912. without boarc
was S59.25.
The need for providing for tn
future of these and all other work
ers was pointed out by Mr.. Avera
He cited social security statistic
which show that only four per cen
Of the people in the United State
over IS years of age have tn
necessary resources to live entire
ly Independent of outside aid.
Average weekly wage for WON
en- domestic workers in 1910 wa
shown to be SS.10. These worker
are also barred from the presen
social security program, although
about 2,500,000 persons are EN-
ployed as cooks, maids, house
workers, gardeners, or chauffeurs
Employees of non-profit institu
tons for religious, charitable, sci
enhfic, literary, or educational pur
poses are prohibited from receiv
ing social insurance protection. Fo
instance, a stenographer workni
for an ioJ1,r4,;aJ y,1oy,f iS y,rofncf