During the Great Depression, the economy was crashing, thousands of people were losing their jobs, and businesses went bankrupt. So, on June 8, 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced to congress that he would provide a program for Social Security. He created the Committee on Economic Security to investigate the problem of the economy and to provide any solutions to this problem. Eventually, on August 14, 1935, President Roosevelt passed the Social Security Act. The act was designed to help people in need of general welfare and to pay retired workers, aged 65 or older, a continuing income after retirement to protect them from poverty. The program later changed to include unemployment insurance, old age assistance, and aid to dependant children and the elderly. Social Security benefits, which are paid monthly to nearly 46 million people, are the backbone of the nation's entire retirement income system. …
