Actual costs of the Social Security system over the years compared with 1935 estimates.

It is believed by many that the cost of the Social Security program currently is considerably higher than it had been estimated that it would be when the program was enacted in 1935. The analysis in this article indicates that the cost of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance program in 1980, when expressed as a percentage of taxable payroll, was almost exactly the same as it was estimated initially to be then. Such cost, however, does not include the Disability Insurance and Hospital Insurance programs and, moreover, is estimated to increase by about 50 percent over the next 50 years, whereas the initial estimates showed no cost increases after 1980.