Why did President Franklin D. Roosevelt establish Social Security?

Answer 1

Social Security was originally introduced as part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal pacakage of reforms, which were intended to remedy problems which had been caused by the Great Depression. Certain groups of people were particularly vulnerable to poverty, and one of these groups was (and remains) the elderly. Most people, if they live to a sufficiently advanced age, will eventually have to retire as a result of declining health. Yet, most people are never able to save up enough money to be able to support themselves in their retirement - particularly because they don't really know how many years that will be, anyway. The previous practice, prior to Social Security, was for the elderly to depend upon their children to support them, but that often didn't work very well, particularly during times of economic difficulty such as the Great Depression, when people had enough trouble taking care of themselves without having to also worry about their elderly parents. And of course, not everybody has children anyway. Some people have no children, some people outlive their children, and some people have children who are either not willing or not able to help their parents anyway. With social security, people might not have as much money as they used to have before retirement, but at least they would not be in a state of desperate poverty, having nothing.

Answer 2

Roosevelt believed that the government should provide for the welfare of the people. He saw a need for pensions for disabled persons and old people.

Answer 3

He created it to help the poor.