Social Security Act of 1935 Explicitly Excludes Agricultural and Domestic Workers

The Social Security Act of 1935 excluded agricultural workers and domestic servants from its old-age insurance and unemployment provisions. These exclusions, insisted upon by Southern Democratic congressmen, removed roughly 65–75% of Black workers from coverage. In some Southern states, over 80% of Black workers were in excluded categories. The exclusions were not race-neutral accidents but deliberate political trades to win Southern support for New Deal legislation. Agricultural and domestic workers were not fully incorporated into Social Security until 1954.