This week, The Arc celebrates the 80th anniversary of our nation’s Social Security system.

Signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on August 14, 1935, Social Security improves our lives in so many ways. It provides basic economic security for workers and their families – including children and spouses with disabilities – when a worker retires, dies, or acquires a significant, qualifying disability. It helps people with disabilities who work to enjoy a secure retirement. And it provides access to health insurance through Medicare, enabling many people with disabilities to get the health care they need.

Social Security insures nearly all Americans, or an estimated 165 million workers. Its protections are hard to come by anywhere else: roughly 7 in 10 civilian workers have no long-term disability insurance, half have no private pension, and one in three has no savings set aside for retirement.

It’s hard to imagine what life would be like without Social Security. Benefits average just over $40 per day, but lift about 22 million Americans out of poverty. For most beneficiaries, that $40 per day is most or all of what they have to get by. Many people with disabilities tell us that even a small cut in their Social Security benefits would mean facing terrible choices, like whether to take a prescribed medication or buy groceries.

Social Security has never missed a payment since 1935. Workers pay for Social Security, and count on it being there when they and their families need it. The Arc knows how important it is to sustain Social Security’s record of success, and keep our nation’s promise to today’s workers and beneficiaries, and for generations to come.

Over the last year, The Arc has been on the front lines, defending our Social Security lifeline against shocking attacks and speaking out against harmful benefit cuts. We’re fighting to prevent a devastating 20% across-the-board cut in Social Security disability benefits at the end of 2016. And we offer many recommendations for strengthening Social Security so that the system works better for people with disabilities and stays financially strong for decades to come.

Please join us in making sure this vital system is there for people with I/DD and their families!

• Sign up for The Arc’s action alerts.
• Learn more about Social Security for people with I/DD and their families.
• Visit the Social Security Administration to get facts and apply for benefits.