The Omaha guide., 1945-08-11

this employment increase, the report
stated:
The shift fro mthe farm to the
factory is by tar the most out
standing change that took place in
the Negro labor force during the war.
Between 1910 and 1914, the number
OF Negroes employed as skilled crafts
men and foremen doubled, as did the
number engaged as operatives, lie,
performing the basic semiskilled fac
tory operations. Altogether, the num-
Der in both categories rose from about
100000 to a total of about 1000, 900
In contrast the number on farms,
either as farm operators or laborers,
decreased by about SOC,
"As among the men, the most pro
nounced shift among Negro women
wa the shift from farm to the fac
tory. In April 1910, Is per cent of the
entire female Negro labor force was
on farms; four years later, hat pro-
portion had been halved. The total
number of Negro women employed
had increased by about a third; the
number employed on farms had de-
creased by about 80 per cent. On the
other hand Negro women employed
as craftsmen and foremen and as fac
tory operatives almost quadrupled
during the same period"
The purpose of the Social Security
Act, which vas signed BY President
Roosevelt on August IA, 1885, was
to provide minimum basic security
through social insurance by replacing
partially the wage loss resulting from
old age, unemployment or death of
the breadwinner; and through social
assistance to the needy aged, the
blind, and dependent children who
have lost the support or care Of a
parent.
Under the act, the Social Security
Board operates two insurance pro-
gramS-unemployment compensation,
and Old Age and Survivors Insurance.
Unemployment compensation, run by
the States under each States law,
with the Federal Government paying
costs of administration, is designed to
replace partially the wages lost dur
ing brief periods of unemployment,
and hui to keep families going and
maintain purchasing power. Under
this system, the worker receives short
term weekly benefits. Old-Age and
Survivors Insurance is a nationwide,
Federally-operated system for replac-
ing part Of the wages lost when in
Sured workers grow too old to work,
when breadwinners die. This Sys-
tenn protects the family as well as the
worker with long-term monthly bene-
fits.
The Social Security Board also OPP
crates three public assistance pro-
grams designed to provide monthly
cash payments for old people who
have not been able to gain insured
status, for dependent children, and
for the needy blind. These programs
are run by the States, under individual
State laws, with Federal participation
in the cost Of payments to benehciar-
les and of administration. The old-age
assistance program is operated in the
4S States and the District of Column
bia, Hawaii and Alaska; the aid to
dependent children program in At
States and the DC. and Alaska, and
the aid to the blind program in A
States and DC. and Hawaii.
The Social Security Act generally
covers workers in private business and
industry : factories, shops, mines,
mills, banks, and such institutions as
building and loan associations. The
10000 900 workers in "non-covered''
employment consist principally Of
those employed on farms, in domestic
service in private homes, for units Of
local, county, State and Federal gov
ernments, and self employed business
men and persons working for certain
non-proft organizations, including
churches, the Red Gross and Y.M.C.A.
In its ninth annual report 70 Con
greSs, the Social Security Board rec
commended that coverage be extended
t oall presently excluded groups.