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Social Security Act

American  

noun

U.S. Government.
  1. a law passed in 1935 providing old-age retirement insurance, a federal-state program of unemployment compensation, and federal grants for state welfare programs.


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

When he signed the Social Security Act in 1935, then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said the program was to provide “at least some measure of protection to the average citizen and his family…against poverty-ridden old age.”

From Barron's • May 8, 2026

Since the Social Security Act was signed into law in 1935, the government has never missed a payment.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 2, 2026

Another example is federal unemployment insurance, which was adopted in the 1935 Social Security Act and significantly expanded over the ensuing decades.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026

These staggering numbers, along with the realities of the Great Depression, led to President Franklin D. Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act of 1935 into law.

From Salon • Apr. 7, 2025

Except perhaps for the Social Security Act, it is the most far- reaching, the most far-sighted program for the benefit of workers ever adopted here or in any other country.

From The Fireside Chats of Franklin Delano Roosevelt by Roosevelt, Franklin Delano

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