Does anyone know what the poverty rate among the elderly in the United States was prior to 1936 and, more importantly, prior to the Great Depression? I appreciate all replies. Thank you very much.

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"I am a Tory Anarchist. I should like every one to go about doing just as he pleased- short of altering any of the things to which I have grown accustomed." (Max Beerbohm)

Sorry for being intrusive, but what is this for? I'll try to see if I can find the stats.

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"There is nothing wrong with America that can't be cured by what's right with America" William Jefferson Clinton

I am thinking about Social Security. Don't spend too much time looking for the statistics. Only a few people on the site who have been studying this sort of thing for years are likely to know where to find them. That is why I didn't find them myself.

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"I am a Tory Anarchist. I should like every one to go about doing just as he pleased- short of altering any of the things to which I have grown accustomed." (Max Beerbohm)

What I really want to know is whether and to what extent Social Security has decreased poverty among the elderly.

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"I am a Tory Anarchist. I should like every one to go about doing just as he pleased- short of altering any of the things to which I have grown accustomed." (Max Beerbohm)

have not looked, Force, but it is quite possible that no one kept those sort of statistics. Far more of the population was working in agriculture in the first part of the century. The elderly lived on the farm with family. The experience of aging and poverty in an agrarian community is very different from that of today's fractured families. Kids are often not around to look after their elders.

Don't know exact numbers- but in details:
old people were dependent on their children. Two side effects:
1) poor families had to choose between parents and children. Old people wound up on the street. We see the same thing in parts of India today.
2) great incentive to have children (in addition to the old need for a small workforce in the agricultural days). Social Security also functions as a noncoercive population control. Nowadays people complain about poor people having kids they can't afford. Back then you couldn't afford not to have kids if you weren't very well-off or very well-liked in the community.
Social Security essentially acts as a way to keep old people off the streets during bad economic times. In good economic times it keeps child-bearing under control (to a small extent) and allows families to spend less on harboring elderly relatives and more on their kids, themselves, and other aspects of the economy.
Despite it's flaws, Social Security has some pretty good effects- most of which are invisible. It's negative effects include a lower savings rate (though I question how much this is an effect of Social Security and how much is an effect of short-sightedness: people tend to begin saving for retirement... late. If you live only on Social Security you WILL be in poverty. It was never meant to keep people at their old wages. It was meant to supplement retirement benefits and savings and keep the very poor off the streets).

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"Conservatives say if you don't give the rich more money, they will lose their incentive to invest. As for the poor, they tell us they've lost all incentive because we've given them too much money."

-George Carlin

I thank Zoe and JavaBlack for the information. As poorly as Social Security was designed, I'll just support raising the retirement age and doing nothing else. By the way, since my thread on the subject never got any replies, what do you think of price controls on medical care and drugs? I need more input on that as well.

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"I am a Tory Anarchist. I should like every one to go about doing just as he pleased- short of altering any of the things to which I have grown accustomed." (Max Beerbohm)

It's only been tracked since 1959. And seniors are less likely to live in poverty than any group in the U.S.

http://www.npc.umich.edu/poverty/

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Some days it's not even worth chewing through the restraints.