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Show rather modest beginning. At first, only workers in commerce com-merce and industry were covered. cov-ered. Now, more than 9 out of 10 working Americans are covered cov-ered by the program. Nine out of every 10 children and their mothers can count on monthly benefits if the family breadwinner bread-winner dies. Nearly 90 percent of the people reaching 65 in 1963 were eligible for benefits. The basic idea of the social security law is simple. During working years employees, their employers, and self-employed people pay social security taxes tax-es which go into special funds. When earnings stop because the worker has retired, or died, or is disabled, payments are made from the funds to replace part of the earnings the family has lost. Social Security now covers over 19 million More than 69,900 men, women wo-men and children in Utah were receiving social security benefit bene-fit payments at the end of 1963. These payments amounted amount-ed to about $4,691,000 a month, according to Kesler T. Powell district manager for the Social Security Administration in the Provo district. "This represents an increase in the number of beneficiaries over the same period last year," he said. The social security program was 28 years old last August 14. In reviewing the growth of the program, Mr. Powell noted that at the close of 1940, the first year in which monthly payments were made, only 200, 000 people in the nation were receiving payments. In December Decem-ber 1963, over 19 million were on the social, security benefit rolls. Benefit payments in calendar cal-endar year 1963 totalled $56, 292,000 in Utah. Many changes have been made in the program since its |