s like OASDI are based on past payroll contributions, they resemble outright welfare or transfer payment redistribution programs in that they deliver needed assistance to the poor.
It is significant that the major need of the elderly poor is for income and jobs. Although the demographic shift to a greater percentage of Americans in retirement years by the 1990's has been fortunately accompanied by an increase in income levels for this group, this is due not only to increases in Social Security benefits but also to the growth of public and private pensions. The problem for elderly minorities is that many of them are twice or more as likely to be poor than elderly whites (Levitan, 1985, pp. 14-17).
Direct provision of necessities such as food, medical care and housing is another form of assistance. And employment-related programs include training assistance to help people become qualified for specific jobs; incentives to employers to hire the disadvantaged; labor market restructuring which includes minimum wage, affirmative action and public employment; and programs designed to develop economic activity in depressed urban and rural areas (Levitan, 1985, pp. 15-16).
Another layer of protection for the needs of elderly Americans extends beyond Social Security income and was reorganized in 1972. This is the Supplemental Security Income program for the aged, blind and disabled. Federal welfare policy has remained strongly supportive of this area of assistance since the targeted recipient groups are "considered less responsible for their dependency than AFDC recipients; hence they are deemed more 'deserving' of aid" (Levitan, 1985, p. 41). As one analyst notes, the altruistic tradition which inspired these programs: "For centuries, poverty was viewed as the just consequence of personal inadequacies: physical frailty, mental deficiencies, moral and behavioral defects. Although alms were considered appropriate to relieve the su...