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Primary sourceDocument14 August 1935

Social Security Act

14 August 1935

The 1935 law signed by FDR that created old-age pensions and unemployment insurance, a cornerstone of the New Deal.

FDR signed this act into law, making it one of the central achievements of his New Deal domestic program.

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Scanned first page of the Social Security Act, H.R. 7260, Public No. 271, 74th Congress, bound in a red-edged book. Text reads 'Seventy-fourth Congress of the United States of America; At the First Session' followed by 'An Act' and the title, then 'Title I—Grants to States for Old-Age Assistance'. A purple Library stamp appears on the left margin.
Social Security Act, signed August 14, 1935. U.S. National Archives.

About this source

What it is

This is the Social Security Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 14, 1935. The U.S. National Archives holds the enrolled act, a bound printed document beginning with grants to states for old-age assistance.

Why it matters

Before this law, the United States had no national system of support for the elderly, unemployed, or disabled, unlike many other industrialized countries. Developed under a committee led by Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins and championed by Roosevelt amid the suffering of the Great Depression, the act created old-age benefits, unemployment insurance, and aid for dependent children, funded through payroll taxes rather than direct government spending. It became one of the most lasting achievements of the New Deal, later expanded to include Medicare and Medicaid.

Look closer

  • Why might the law have been funded through workers' and employers' contributions rather than general taxes?
  • What groups of people does the act specifically aim to help, and why might they have needed help during the Depression?
  • What does the formal, legal language of the document tell you about who it was written for?

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