Social Security in Britain and Certain Other Countries

The present paper assembles some basic facts for assessing the social security system of this country. There is no absolute criterion for judging the adequacy of the provision for relieving poverty and insuring against interruption of earnings. But comparison with arrangements in certain other countries may suggest fruitful ideas for improvement. The British system of social security is at present radically different from, and the benefits provided on the whole considerably less generous than in most West European countries. In the following section we describe first the origin and main features of the British system as it has developed since the last war and then compare it with arrangements in the Common Market and certain other countries.