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What part of FDR's Second New Deal provided retirement insurance to people over 65 years old?

The part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Second New Deal that provided retirement insurance to people over 65 years of age is called Social Security.  This is a very famous program that continues to exist to this day.


One thing that President Roosevelt wanted to do with the New Deal was to set the US economy up in such a way that there could never be another terrible economic downturn like the Great Depression.  Social...

The part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Second New Deal that provided retirement insurance to people over 65 years of age is called Social Security.  This is a very famous program that continues to exist to this day.


One thing that President Roosevelt wanted to do with the New Deal was to set the US economy up in such a way that there could never be another terrible economic downturn like the Great Depression.  Social Security was one part of this effort.  Social Security would help prevent depressions because it would make sure that elderly people had money to live on.  If retired people were spending their Social Security money on things like food and clothes, it would help keep the economy strong.


Of course, Social Security was also meant as something of a humanitarian program.  Before Social Security, there was no government program to ensure that retired people had any money to live on.  People had to save for themselves while they worked and/or they had to rely on support from their children when they grew too old to work.  Social Security was meant to ensure that retired people would not sink into poverty if they had not been able to save or if they did not have family who could support them.


For these reasons, President Roosevelt backed the idea of Social Security.  A bill was passed creating the program and Roosevelt signed it into law on August 14, 1935.  While the program has some problems, it continues to exist today and many Americans rely on it for their retirements.

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