Social Security marks birthday, changes possible in 2023

Social Security Administration turned 87 years old last week with President Joe Biden noting recipients of the federal entitlement program started 2022 with the biggest single boost to their benefits since 1982.

The move toward higher checks, Biden administration officials reported, is primarily because of the highest inflation rate in 40 years.

Biden has proposed increasing the FICA payroll tax for wealthy Americans, boasting benefits for long-lived beneficiaries and enhancing the special minimum benefit.

History

• Congress approved the Social Security Act on Aug. 14, 1935, during the height of the Great Depression.
• The first Social Security cards were issued to 20 million Americans in 1937.
• The initial lump sum payment, 17 cents, was generated in January 1937.
• Under the original authorizing legislation, SSA created unemployment insurance, Aid to Dependent Children, Old Age Insurance (OAI) and Old Age Assistance (OAA).
• Opponents, at SSA's founding, derided Social Security as "socialism."

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