SOCW 3306 Chapter 9: Social Insurance

Which of the following individuals would likely benefit the MOST from Social Security?

A married woman who never works outside the home

Which of the following was NOT a basis or model for recommendation by the Committee on Economic Security that eventually led to the passage of the Social Security Act?

Belief that the government should be firmly in control of social welfare support programs

Which group in society has Social Security had the BIGGEST impact on, over time?

Elderly persons with low incomes

Which of the following was not an ORIGINAL provision of the Social Security Act of 1935?

Health insurance for the aged and disabled

How can the immigration debate impact the solvency of Social Security?

Immigrants tend to be younger, thus allowing more immigrant workers to come to the United States and increasing financial contributions to the Social Security system.

Which of the following Social Security programs is NOT an example of a social insurance program?

Medicaid

Which aspect of Social Security provides benefits for retired workers who have paid taxes into the system while employed?

Old-age insurance

Which of the following factors would NOT explain the need for increasing the percentage of payroll deductions for social security that have occurred over time?

Periods of recession, in which the government had to make up for lost funds

Which of the following reforms is MOST likely a reflection of conflicting values about Social Security?

Privatization

Which aspect of the original Social Security Act of 1935 was meant to be only temporary?

Public assistance

Which of the following proposed incremental changes to the Social Security system would be LEAST popular with high-income individuals?

Raising the ceiling on income taxed

The key national social insurance program in the United States is commonly known as ________________.

Social Security

Which of the following was NOT associated with the causes of the Great Depression of the 1930s?

Technological changes that put people out of work

_____________ was/were a set of legislative reforms put forth by President Franklin Roosevelt that set a new legislative tone for the country, as a result of the Great Depression.

The New Deal

Which of the following changes to Social Security made since 1983 is LEAST likely to contribute to the solvency of the program?

The Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act

Which aspect of Social Security provides benefits to regularly employed members of the labor force when they involuntarily lose their jobs?

Unemployment insurance

The greatest underlying struggle in supporting the Social Security system is the extent of belief a person has in ___________________.

individual responsibility versus social responsibility

The proposal to replace the current system of collecting and holding money for Social Security by the federal government with a system in which each beneficiary can designate all or part of their contributions to investments outside of government control is known as ___________________.

privatization

Because the Social Security program redistributes income from those who have higher incomes to those who have less, its benefits are BEST considered to be ______________.

progressive

Because the proportion of taxes paid by higher-income individuals into Social Security is less than the proportion paid by lower-income individuals, the Social Security tax is BEST characterized as ______________.

regressive

A collectively funded program for workers and their dependents that provides economic resources at the conclusion of employment is known as ____________.

social insurance

The social insurance programs of the Social Security Act embody the value(s) of _____________.

social responsibility and social support

The law that mandates deductions from employees along with matching employer contributions for Social Security is known as __________________.

the Social Security Trust Fund (SSTF)

The special account in which the government holds money collected in Social Security taxes is called ______________.

the Social Security Trust Fund (SSTF)

Social insurance is based upon ___________________.

the value of collective responsibility for social well-being