Impact
The Disability and Dependent Pension Act was, according to the GAR national pension committee, “the most liberal pension measure ever passed by any legislative body in the world.” It resulted in an enormous spike in federal expenditures on pensions. In 1890, just 537,944 veterans were receiving pensions. By 1893, that number had already almost doubled to 966,012. In 1889, the federal government spent $89,000,000 on these pensions, a figure that jumped to $159,000,000 by 1893. By 1894, 37% of the government budget was set aside for pension payments.
As the “largest single appropriation ever made for a government expenditure” the act paved the way for future government pension spending. It would take another step in 1904 when an Executive Order was issued by Theodore Roosevelt declaring all veterans over the age of 62 to be eligible for a pension, effectively making old age a disability.
Read more about this topic: Dependent And Disability Pension Act
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