The Development of the Social Security Act
When cash and wages must pass through many and widely scattered hands, when the resources of the nation are varied and often intangible, now without question the traditional agricultural economy has been transformed and the day of exclusively local responsibility has passed.
- Frank Bane (Executive Director, Social Security Board), 1938
In June, 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt established the Committee on Economic Security (CES), a component of the Second New Deal to ease the nation's economic depression. Headed by Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, their purpose was to compile a report on the condition of American workers and recommend a legislative plan for improvement. |
Witte was appointed Executive Director of the CES due to the connections he forged in developing Wisconsin’s welfare program. Taking a leave of absence from the University of Wisconsin, he began spinning an unprecedented web of federal relief programs. In August Witte submitted to the Committee a meticulous draft of their goals, which were discussed, amended, and adopted:
The field of study to which the committee should devote its major attention, is that of the protection of the individual against dependency and distress. This includes all forms of social insurance (accident insurance, health insurance, invalidity insurance, unemployment insurance, retirement annuities, survivors' insurance, family endowment, and maternity benefits) and also problems of providing work (or opportunities for self-employment) for the unemployed, and training them for jobs that are likely to become available. These several problems must be studied not only from the point of view of long time policy, but must be related to the present relief and unemployment situation. |