Created pensions for the elderly and support for unemployed and disabled Americans.

• A. Stock Market Crash
• B. Dust Bowl
• C. Social Security Act
• D. Harlem Renaissance

Answer: (C)

This question measures understanding of how the New Deal built a social safety net during the Great Depression. The Social Security Act is the right choice because it established pensions for the elderly and a framework of support for the unemployed and disabled. Enacted in 1935, it created old-age insurance funded by payroll taxes, unemployment insurance paid through state programs, and additional aid for the disabled and other vulnerable groups. This marked a shift from relying on charity or private charity alone to a government-administered system of social protection designed to reduce poverty and provide economic security in hard times.

The other options relate to the era but do not create ongoing welfare programs. A stock market crash was a triggering event of the Depression, not a program. The Dust Bowl was an environmental disaster that worsened economic distress for many farmers, not a pensions program. The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement, not a social welfare measure.