Public Old-Age Pensions

Report Outline
Causes of Old-Age Dependency
Causes of Old-Age Dependency
Existing Securities Against Old Age
Foreign Old-Age Pension Systems
Old-Age Pensions in America
Groups Interested in Public Pensions
Special Focus

Causes of Old-Age Dependency

The Lengthening Span of Life

The problem of providing for aged dependents becomes more serious each year because the underlying economic changes causing it accumulate more rapidly than remedies for it are adopted. Among the contributing economic changes are (1) the longer span of life, as a result of which the number of people over 65 years of age within the whole population has relatively increased; (2) the reduced employment age level which shortens the earning period of a man's life; (3) the higher standard of American life meaning an increase in family expenses; (4) the movement of a majority of families from the country to the cities; and (5) the growth of machine industry. These conditions together with waning earning power, sickness, industrial accidents, current unemployment, industrial disputes, and business and banking failures make the problem of security for old age increasingly serious.

Several means exist to meet this problem. These include individual savings, industrial and trade union pensions, public service retirement systems, the old-age benefits of professional and fraternal societies, poorhouses, and private charity. The inadequacy of these existing securities has given rise to the movement, for public old-age pensions which have been widely adopted in foreign countries and in 12 of the United States. New York and Massachusetts adopted old-age pension laws in 1930. In New Jersey and Michigan public commissions are studying the problem of the needy aged. The movement for old-age pensions has, in fact, gained great momentum. The question was discussed at the Conference of Governors in Utah last month and state parties and political nominees, Republican and Democratic, are urging such legislation in many states.

This report will examine the causes, extent, and distribution of aged dependency in the United States; existing securities against old age; pension systems abroad; and the pension movement in the United States.