Social Security Status of the American People

The contribution the social security programs ma.ke to the N&on has required increasing expenditures over the years. Even if nothing more were done than to carry forward present services, future expenditures would have to rise to meet the needs of an increasing population, particularly among children and older people. To meet new challenges will cost more. The need for these expendit.ures must be evaluated in relation both to available resources and other community obligations. In this evaluation, however, the following two considerations should influence the decisions made. While the numbers needing community services and the types of services required are increasing, so also are the average productivity of the American worker and the number in the labor force. Beyond this, the long-run, if not the immediate, price of neglecting human needs usually is considerably higher than the cost of meeting them as they occur. If the Nation accepts and meets the challenges the future presents, the next 25 years will see progress in social security comparable to the progress of the past 25 years in basic economic security.