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States begin to abolish almshouses and establish old age assistance programs in their place.

1915

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Over the course of the late 1910s and 1920s, states across the country begin to close almshouses and simultaneously introduce laws that provide public assistance to poor elders in the form of pensions.

Most laws required that pensioners have been U.S. citizens and residents of the state for at least 15 years, have very limited property and income, and be considered “deserving:" without "criminal" history or disabilities that are seen as cause for institutionalization.