Traditionally, of course, all cultures had means to care for their elderly and disabled. Typically, this involved the extended family, consisting of several generations living, if not actually under the same roof, at least nearby each other. For those of a more urban bent, by the Medieval Age, certain craft guilds were offering financial help to members who were incapacitated, or to spouses widowed by industrial accident. This was followed by the friendly societies, which were the forerunners of fraternal organizations and trade unions. The first national attempt to aid the elderly was the English Poor Law of 1601 (C.E.), which allowed help to "deserving" poor. By the late 19th century, several European nations had social insurance, developed by Otto von Bismarck. With increased urbanization (thus the dissolution of the extended family) and increased industrialization, such movements had been moving throughout the U.S.A. since this time. The Great Depression (1929-1940 C.E.) forced the government's hand, however. With a high unemployment rate, an increasing dependence on industrialization, and Socialists banging on the White House's door, Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law in 1935 C.E. It provided for income for both disabled and retired persons, and with later amendments, also paid benefits to spouses and children of deceased workers. The good times could not last forever, though. The number of beneficiaries has increased 838 times since Social Security payments started in 1937 until the end of the century, during which period the payments themselves have increased an incredible 301,853-fold! To avoid putting the nation in debt, Social Security was repealed in 2015 C.E., and all previously-made payments were returned (at a loss to the government, to be sure, but not nearly what they had been losing up till that point). After this point, Social Security in the United States was handled entirely by the corporations.