The National Consumers League celebrates 91st anniversary of Social Security Act
Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829
Washington, DC – Today, the National Consumers League (NCL) is proud to celebrate the 91st anniversary of the Social Security Act. This landmark achievement helped establish a stronger economic foundation for millions of American families. Frances Perkins, who led NCL’s New York office in the early decades of the 20th century before becoming FDR’s Secretary of Labor and the first woman to serve in a U.S. Cabinet, was instrumental in ushering in a new era of economic security for American families. Perkins witnessed firsthand the devastation of poverty among older Americans, observing elderly people picking through garbage cans, starving with no money, no family, and nothing to eat. She called it a “national disgrace,” and that moral outrage drove NCL and others to fight for a social safety net for older Americans, resulting in the Social Security Act of 1935.
“That principle is as important today as it was in 1935. Social Security has become one of the most important consumer protections in our nation’s history, helping millions of Americans afford the essentials and live with dignity in retirement, after the loss of a family breadwinner, or when disability makes work impossible,” said NCL CEO Sally Greenberg. “Frances Perkins understood that economic security is not a luxury—it is a foundation for a healthy, fair, and functioning society.”
Today, 22 million Americans rely entirely on Social Security with no other source of income. The program was never intended to operate that way. It was designed as a supplement to a pension. But as pensions have become increasingly rare, Social Security has become the vital safety net that millions of Americans live on. “At NCL, we carry that same conviction into our work every day. Consumers cannot have true power or independence when they are one unexpected expense, illness, job loss, or other hardship away from financial ruin. We celebrate Frances Perkins and the legacy of the Social Security Act because protecting people means giving them the security to weather life’s inevitable challenges,” Greenberg concluded. “We must honor that legacy by protecting and strengthening the programs that American families have spent generations building and relying upon. We owe that to the women of NCL and the progressive movement of the early 20th century who made it possible.”
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About the National Consumers League (NCL)
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.
