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Social Security’s dirty secret: You weren’t supposed to live long enough to collect it
The article traces the origins of state pensions to Germany in 1889, when Chancellor Otto von Bismarck established a fixed age for receiving payments. It argues that pensions helped ease worries about old age and weaken support for socialist policies.
Bismarck led Germany during its rise as the Second Reich and was known for his “iron and blood” approach to power. The article presents pensions as a pragmatic political concession to workers, but provides no figures on the retirement age or life expectancy.
In short
- Germany introduced a fixed-age state pension in 1889.
- Bismarck used pensions to ease fears about old age.
- The article links the policy to countering socialism.