- The Social Security Act of 1935, also known as Public Law#74-271, was signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt on August 14, 1935.
- Legislation was codified in 42 U.S.C. SS 601-617.
- Bill information: https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=68.
- Key points of the legislation included:
- 1. This legislation is the cornerstone of the current Social Security system that we enjoy today.
- 2. While we think of Social Security as an old-age program, the eleven titles created a wide range of programs.
- 3. One of those programs was Aid to Dependent Children (ADC), which was later changed to Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). It was also known as Title IV.
- 4. Title IV was a network of federal grants to states which is called welfare.
- 5. It was initially targeted for families with a single mother or disabled father. In 1961, states were allowed to provide support to families with two parent households if one of them was unemployed.
- 6. Given the perception that the program was encouraging family dissolution and thus increasing the number of children in mother-only households with children, new programs were created that disregarded family structure.