3) Very few retired Americans had a guaranteed income.
Before the Act was passed, the Great Depression had started to impact many Americans. This economic downturn left millions of people unemployed and without their life savings and retirement funding. The most vulnerable (the elderly and the disadvantaged) were affected the most. Consequently, very few Americans had a guaranteed income when they retired.
The few programs that had been carried out by government officials or private citizens to increase economic security until then were quite insufficient and none of those programs were law. It wasn't until the Social Security Act was signed into law that workers aged 65 or older started to receive a continuing income after retirement.