As our state is now considering some form of paid family medical leave insurance, it is interesting to look back at the history of social insurance programs in our country.

In 1795, Thomas Paine wrote Agrarian Justice, which proposed, unsuccessfully, a 10 percent inheritance tax that would provide “annual benefits of ten pounds sterling for each person age 50 and older to guard against poverty in old age.”

Beginning in 1862, Civil War pensions were paid to disabled veterans, and later to their widows and orphans, creating the largest social security program to date in our country.

With the Great Depression of the 1930s, poverty among the elderly grew dramatically and initially individual states responded by setting up their own old-age pension programs. However, only about 3 percent of the elderly were receiving benefits at an average benefit of about 65 cents per day. Finally, faced with the growing numbers of unemployed and rising poverty rates, the Social Security Act (SSA) of 1935 established a base floor of annual income for the retired elderly as well as unemployment insurance.

In 1965, SSA was expanded to provide much-needed health care for the elderly (Medicare) and was expanded again in 2003 to provide drug benefits (Medicare Part D).

In each of these times of widespread need, our country eventually responded with a form of social insurance, i.e. “social” in that the program is shaped by broad social rather than individual needs, and “insurance” in which a large group of people contribute earnings in order to be insured against a defined risk. They were set up to provide universally those things that individuals could not do on their own. I think this is true for paid family medical leave insurance today.

Yes, it may be available as a private insurance product but the average family cannot afford it. Call it an income tax if you wish, but then you should also call Social Security and Medicare income taxes.

The time has come to recognize that we are no longer the families of the 1950s. Dad’s one pay check is no longer sufficient to cover the basic living expenses of a family, and Mom is not home all day, available to care for sick family members.

Today the loss of a pay check to care for an emergent medical crisis can have catastrophic effects. Until our country addresses the need for paid family medical leave insurance on a national level, it’s time for our state to step forward. Our families need help.

(Bernadette Cameron lives in Deerfield.)