August 1935

The Social Security Act exempted agricultural laborers and domestic servants from old-age insurance and unemployment coverage. In the South, roughly 65% of Black workers held these jobs. The exclusion was the price of Southern Democratic votes, a structural racial carve-out embedded in the New Deal's signature achievement.

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.

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.

After a 12-year organizing campaign led by A. Philip Randolph, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters won AFL affiliation and recognition from the Pullman Company, the largest employer of Black workers in America. The contract reduced hours from 400 to 240 monthly and raised wages, creating a stable Black middle class in dozens of cities.

The unemployment insurance provisions of the Social Security Act of 1935, like the old-age insurance provisions, excluded agricultural and domestic workers, again disproportionately removing Black workers from coverage. This meant that when Black workers lost jobs, at far higher rates than white workers during the Depression, they had no unemployment insurance safety net. State-level administration of relief programs allowed Southern states to administer benefits discriminatorily; Black applicants were routinely denied or offered less than white applicants for identical situations. The exclusions were not corrected until the 1954 and later amendments to the Social Security Act.

The 1935 Social Security Act excluded agricultural and domestic workers, roughly two-thirds of all Black workers, a carve-out demanded by Southern lawmakers to keep New Deal benefits from Black families.