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Show One Million Benefited By Social Security Program According to information received re-ceived from the Central Office of the Social Security Board by Rex A. C. Atwood, Manager of the Board's District office at Salt Lake City, the Social Security Board began to pay off today on its one-millionth monthly insurance insur-ance benefit in force under the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance program. Initial monthly benefit checks, amounting to $58.49 were presented present-ed to Mrs. Mary Rex Thompson, 33, recently widowed wife of a Cleveland war worker, on behalf of herself and her two children, Dale- Bernice, four, and Jerald Robert, one. They mark the start of a monthly flow of such checks that, under normal circumstances, circum-stances, will continue for 17-yers until "Jerry Bob" is 18. . Mrs. Thompson's payments will be resumed re-sumed again when she is 65, provided pro-vided she does not remarry. Altogether, Al-together, the payments on the social security account of her husband, John Robert Thompson, may total $15,000. Thompson paid $145 in taxes over a period of 7 years prior to his death on June 19, and his employers paid an equal amount on his account. The checks were presented by Mrs. Ellen S. Woodward of Washington, Wash-ington, one of the three members of the Social Security Board in a ceremony in the Thompson home at 3818 Russel Avenue, Parma, where the widow lives with her late husband's parents, Mr. and Mrs. William E. Thompson. Mrs. Woodward pointed out that the millionth monthly benefit was put in force four years and seven months after such benefits became be-came payable. A check for $25.07 will be sent each month to Mrs. Thompson and she also will receive one for $16.71 for each child each month, Mrs. Woodward explained. Each child's will stop at age 18. When "Jerry Bob" becomes 18, his mother's moth-er's benefits will cease until she is 65. Mrs. Thompson said she did not know her family had this protection until her father-in-law told her about it after her husband's hus-band's death. "I thought, until Dad told me, that social security was just for old age. These monthly family payments make all the difference. They will enable en-able me to keep my children with me and give them my personal care," she said. "Without them I would have to get a job. Added to my husbands's insurance, however, how-ever, they -vviil enable me to manage man-age nicely. I know these checks are something I can count on. They will come every month. This social security insurance is a wonderful thing for young mothers and I am glad to tell about the payments we are getting get-ting so that other mothers will know about it." In making the presentation, Mrs. Woodward "explained that Mrs. Thompson receives her monthly social security checks because she had children under 18 in her care. For young widows, this is a condition of eligibility, but widows over age 65 may receive re-ceive benefits whether or not they have young children, so long as their husbands were insured, in-sured, Mrs. Woodward said. The Old-age and survivors insurance in-surance program, Mrs. Woodward said, is really a Federal family insurance program, under which monthly benefits now are being paid at a rate in excess of $220,-000,000 $220,-000,000 a year. "Three of every five beneficiaries benefici-aries are women and children about 600,000 and that emphasizes empha-sizes that it is a family insurance program," she added. "About 418,000 of the present benefisi-aries benefisi-aries are retired workers and, of course, a number of them are women who have earned retirement retire-ment benefits in their own right." In addition, Mrs. Woodward pointed out, lump-sum payments amounting to $65,350,000 have been paid in the cases of 450,000 insured workers who died without with-out leaving a survivor who was : entitled immediately to monthly j benefits. I Benefits are based on the in-' in-' sured worker's average monthly wage and the length of time he 1 has been in covered employment jobs in business or industry. Thompson's average monthly wage was $159.40. At times he made considerably more and at other times he vas ill or made less. "Every workere in our Nation should be able to build this kind of insurance protection for his ; family," Mrs. Woodward said. : "Unfortunately, about 20 million ' are denied this right because they earn their living in agriculture, agri-culture, in domestic service in ! private households, by working for themselves in small businesses busi-nesses or professions, or in other noncovered employment." She explained that the Board, in its eighth annual report, had recommended recom-mended to the Congress that coverage be extended to all ex- ' eluded groups. ' Mrs. Thompson filed her claims ; for benefits on July 5 at the Cleveland field office of the So- 'cial Security Board, 1100 Chester i Avenue. When asked to what extent Utah is participating in this vast Federal Social Security Insurance Insur-ance System, Mr. Atwood stated that approximately 3,000 persons residing in the area served by the (Continued on next page. ) One Millioin Benefited By Social Security Program (Continued from first page.) Salt Lake City office are now receiving re-ceiving monthly insurance checks, with thenumber increasing increas-ing rapidly. This represents a disbursement of over $66,000.00 each month. Of the 3,000 persons in the Salt Lake City area receiving monthly old-age and survivors insurance checks, approximately 2,000 are residents of Salt Lake City and 1,000 reside- ,in the downstate counties. The above figures do not include the Utah counties north of Salt Lake which are served by the Ogden office of the Board. The Social Security Board's Salt i.ake City office is located at 19 vVest South Temple. |