Before Social Security people supported their parents when they got too old to take care of themselves, so all this horse manure about poverty among the elderly before Social Security is meaningless.
Really? Hey, guy, before Social Security, the average lifespan was 62 years. a lot of people didn't take care of their elderly parents because they were having a hard enough time taking care of themselves.
I've already pointed out that the average life span was lower in those days, which is just one more reason why the current program is a boondoggle. When people got to old to work in those days, if they didn't have sufficient wealth saved up, they lived with their kids. That's just an historical fact. I know that makes ingrates like you uncomfortable. Good.
Bullshit as I explained before only the well to do could afford to do that.
Most everyone else worked for the rich .
Whole families would do whatever they could to keep food a a roof over their heads.
If grandma keeled over in the field that was one less source of income and one less mouth to feed .