What happened to Social Security payroll taxes? Decisions of the past affecting us today

When United States Congress created Social Security Administration payroll taxes in the 1930s, the law scheduled automatic tax-rate increases over time. However, Congress repeatedly postponed those increases during and after World War II. 

From 1942 through 1947, Congress froze or delayed scheduled Social Security payroll tax hikes several times. Lawmakers argued that:

• the Social Security trust fund already had large reserves,
• benefit payments were still relatively small,
• and workers should not face higher payroll taxes during wartime and the immediate postwar years. 

The payroll tax stayed at:

• 1% paid by workers
• plus 1% paid by employers

until 1950. 

Then in 1950, Congress reversed course:

• benefits were greatly expanded,
• millions more workers were added to the system,
• and payroll taxes began rising again.

Now we are in a pickle and yet Congress and our president are failing to act.