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Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - IV. Economics - 15. The Negro in the Public Economy - 9. The Social Security Program - 10. Assistance to Special Groups
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35? An American Dilemma
ers, are in a disadvantaged position.* In other words, there is what migh^
be called “indirect discrimination.” Particularly, coverage is limited. In
the case of the old age pension system there is really no reason at all why
it should be related to the labor market, covering only wage earners and
salaried workers in specific occupations.
Here some short circuit in thinking must be at work which Involves the position
that industrialism is to blame for modern economic problems, so that they have to be
remedied by special measures for those connected with industry. ... It is fallacious,
however, to believe that the problem of dependency for maintenance operates only
in the sphere of wage earning. . . . Just as old age, death, and illness are not limited
to industrial workers, so the risk coverage should not be so limited.®^
What especially works hardships on the Negro is, of course, the fact that
agricultural and domestic workers are excluded. In respect to old age
insurance there is some information available which enables us to judge
the quantitative significance of these exclusions.®*
The development of workmen’s compensation has depended entirely on
state initiative, and there is a great variation in standards.®® Mississippi
does not even have a law requiring compulsory insurance of industrial
accident risks.®*^ Agriculture and domestic service usually belong to the
“uncovered occupations.” It has been estimated that only 40 per cent of alJ
gainful workers are within the insurance system.®® Laws enforcing accident
preventive measures are often inadequate in the South.®®
Thus the Negro’s position in the social security programs to some extent
differs from that in most other systems of social welfare. By and large,
Negroes receive a much smaller share of the social security benefits com-
pared to what they get under most other social welfare programs. They
are always “under-represented” among the recipients of benefits, not only
from the viewpoint of need, but also in comparison with the proportion of
Negroes in the population.
10. Assistance to Special Groups’’
Among the recipients accepted for old age assistance during the period
1937-1940 about 12 per cent were Negroes, whereas of all persons 65 years
* The following criticisms are directed solely against social insurance systems in the
United States, not against workmen’s compensation 8y5t<;ms. The latter, of course, have other
faults.
**The Social Security Act of 1935, as amended, entitles the federal government to lend
financial assistance to states, on a matching basis (50 per cent of total cost), for public
assistance to three distinct categories of needy persons: aged, blind, and children under
x6 (sometimes 18) years of age in broken families, provided that state plans adopted for
the purpose meet certain specified federal standards. These three programs are called Old
Age Assistance (O.A.A), Aid to the Blind (A.B,), and Aid to Dependent Children (A.D.C.).
Many states share their parts of the cost with the local communities. The assistance is dis-
tributed by local Departments of Welfare.
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