Social Security and Social Contract

Social Security and Social Contract

Miniaci Performing Arts Center

During the Great Depression President Franklin Roosevelt forged a Social Contract between the U.S. Government and the American people with his New Deal legislation. Social Security legislation was the cornerstone of the emerging social contract which also included unemployment insurance and work place safety laws. Over the next 40 years this concept of social contract was strengthened, particularly in the area of civil rights and with efforts to reduce income inequality.

During the past 35 years, however, there have been consistent efforts to erode the concept of social contract as we know it. Today the final vestige of social contract, the Social Security system, is under attack. While it is true that the future of Social Security is at risk, the question arises as to whether the system as we know it needs to be dramatically altered with future benefits reduced, or whether there are alternative methods to finance future financial needs.

This paper seeks to analyze the current state of social security and to evaluate the alternative types of social security reform that are being proposed by elected officials as well as various other interest groups. Special attention will be given to alternative forms of funding social security to insure its solvency in future years as well as to additional efforts that would encourage additional savings by the general public for their retirement years.