30
A Brief Explanation of Social Security Act
(Continued from page 29)
for each worker by the Social Security
Board. When a claim is filed, the wages
credited to that worker’s account are
used to compute the amount of his
benefits.
The monthly payments provided un
der the system are of two general
kinds:
( 1 ) Retirement payments—
For the qualified worker himself after
he reaches 65 and stops regular work;
His wife, if or when she is 65;
His children until they are 16, or 18 if
still in school.
(2) Survivors poyments when a qualified
worker dies—
For his children until they reach 16, or
18 if still in school;
His widow while she has such children
in her care;
His widow if or when she is 65;
His dependent parents at age 65, if he
has left no widow or young child.
When the worker leaves no survivor
entitled to monthly payments at the
time of his death, lump-sum death
payments are made. These may go to
the widow, widower, child, grandchild,
or parent, in the order named. If the
worker is not survived by any such
relative, the lump sum may be paid to
other relatives or friends who paid the
burial expenses.
To qualify for insurance benefits,
the worker must have earned $50 or
more a quarter year, in at least half
the quarter years between the begin
ning of work on January 1, 1937,
when the system went into effect, and
the quarter year in which he became
65 or died. Members of the worker’s
family are qualified for benefits if he
is receiving benefits or if he is qualified
when he dies, and they establish cer
tain facts such as their age and rela
tions to him. In order to receive pay
ments, the beneficiary—whether the
worker or a member of his family—
must not be working on any job cov
ered by the law z/ the job pays $15 or
more a month.
Th e worker’s own benefit—called
the "primary benefit”—is computed by
taking 40 percent of the first $50 of
his average monthly pay, adding 10
percent of the rest up to $250, and
then adding 1 percent of this sum for
each year in which he was paid $200 or
more on covered jobs.
The benefits paid the worker’s fam
ily are figured from his "primary bene
fit.” A widow receives three-fourths of
thé primary benefit to which the work
er would have been entitled. For all
others— a wife, a child, or a dependent
parent— the monthly payment is equal
to half the worker’s primary benefit.
The total monthly benefits that may
be paid on one worker’s account may
not be less than $10 a month. The law
also sets a top lim,it for family benefits:
The total may not be more than twice
the primary benefit, or 80 percent of
the worker’s average wage, or $85,
whichever is the least.
A retired wage earner is getting a
primary benefit of $30 a month. His
wife, who is also 65, receives an addi
tional $15, making $45 a month for
the two as long as they both live. If the
husband dies, his widow would receive
$22.50 three-fourths of his primary
benefit of $30 for the rest of her life,
since in this case, she is already 65.
Another retired worker is also get
ting $30 a month. His wife is only 50,
so she cannot yet receive a benefit. But
he has two children under 18, each of
whom is entitled to one-half the pri
mary benefit. This gives the family
$60 a month. The children’s bene
fits will stop as each of them reaches
18. But when the wife is 65 she re
ceives a benefit—one-half of $30 if
her husband is still living; three-fourths
as a widow.
(Continued on page 43)