The Roots of Public Pensions Provision: Social Insurance and the Beveridge Plan

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Harris
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
First Century ◽  
Public Pensions ◽  
Winston Churchill ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Specialist Knowledge

William Beveridge and his Report on Social Insurance and Allied Services of 1942 continue to occupy a pivotal position in the history of social security provision not only in Britain and Europe but also in the wider world into the twenty-first century. This chapter examines why the Beveridge Plan and its ideas were so popular and seemingly so authoritative. Although Beveridge's long public career in social policy had been mainly concerned with the quite different sphere of unemployment insurance, his ideas about old-age pensions did not spring from nowhere in 1941, but dated back to the year 1907. In 1908, he became a personal adviser to Winston Churchill at the Board of Trade, where he was instrumental in inserting many of his ideas about social insurance into the unemployment provisions of the National Insurance Act of 1911. At the time of his appointment as chairman of the Social Insurance Committee in June 1941, Beveridge had almost no specialist knowledge of pensions administration or pensions finance.

The Social Security Program of the United States

1936 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 455-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph P. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Social Security Program ◽  
Unemployment Compensation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Old Age Assistance ◽  
State Unemployment

The Federal Social Security Act, which may be regarded as the central core of the social security program, is an omnibus act, containing the following features: (1) a national, compulsory oldage insurance plan, covering all employees except certain exempted groups; (2) two measures designed to stimulate the states to enact state unemployment compensation laws, namely, (a) a uniform nation-wide tax upon employers, against which a credit is allowable for contributions made to approved state unemployment compensation plans, and (b) subsidies to the states to cover the administrative costs of unemployment compensation; and (3) grants-in-aid to the states for old-age assistance, pensions for the blind, aid to dependent children, child welfare, maternal and child health, vocational rehabilitation, and public health activities. It is estimated that each of the two forms of social insurance will apply to about 25,000,000 wage-earners, and, when the maximum rates become effective in 1949, will involve annual contributions of nearly $3,000,000,000. This amount is approximately equal to the normal annual expenditure of the federal government prior to 1930. In addition, the grants-in-aid to the states were estimated by the actuaries of the President's Committee on Economic Security to reach a total of a half-billion dollars annually within a few years.History of the Federal ActWhen, in a message to Congress on June 8, 1934, the President indicated that he would submit a program of social insurance for consideration at the following session, the Wagner-Lewis unemployment insurance bill and the Dill-Connery old-age assistance bill were pending. Shortly afterwards, the President, by executive order, created the Committee on Economic Security, consisting of the Secretaries of Labor (chairman), Treasury, and Agriculture, the Attorney-General, and the Federal Emergency Relief Administrator. This committee appointed Professor Edwin E. Witte, of the University of Wisconsin, as executive director, and proceeded to build up a staff of actuaries and experts to study the whole problem of economic insecurity, and to prepare recommendations.

A New Deal for the Alien

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cybelle Fox
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Assistance Programs ◽  
Aid To Dependent Children ◽  
The Social ◽  
Disparate Treatment ◽  
Old Age Assistance ◽  
Social Security Act ◽  
European Immigrants

This chapter focuses on the Social Security Act and the disparate treatment of blacks, Mexicans, and European immigrants in the administration of Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, Aid to Dependent Children, and Old Age Assistance. Though framed as legislation that would help the “average citizen,” scholars have shown that the Social Security Act in fact excluded the vast majority of blacks from the most generous social insurance programs, relegating them to meager, decentralized, and demeaning means-tested programs. European immigrants, by contrast, benefited from many of the provisions of the Social Security Act, and in at least some respects, they benefited more than even native-born whites. The net result of these policies was that blacks were disproportionately shunted into categorical assistance programs with low benefit levels, European immigrants were disproportionately covered under social insurance regardless of citizenship, and Mexicans were often shut out altogether.

scholarly journals Old Age and Poverty in Poland, 1945-1989: The Status Regarding Knowledge And Research Problems

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-68
Author(s):  
Dariusz Jarosz
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Research Topic ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
Research Problems ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Old Age ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract The history of old age has only relatively recently become explored as a research topic in Poland. This sketch focuses on the relationship between old age and poverty in People’s Republic of Poland. Old age, however, was a significant object of interest of the PRL authorities in at least two aspects. The first was the social security system, particularly in relation to old age and disability pensions, and the second, social care for the aged.

scholarly journals OVERVIEW OF SOCIAL INSURANCE IN MALAYSIA: INVALIDITY PENSION SCHEME (IPS)

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 37-46
Author(s):  
Mohd Zaki Awang Chek ◽  
Isma Liana Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Private Insurance ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Pension Scheme ◽  
Cost Of Living ◽  
Public Insurance ◽  
The Social ◽  
Insurance Programme

Social insurance is a public insurance programme that provides protection against various economic risks such as loss of income due to sickness, old age, invalidity, death, or unemployment, where participation is made to be compulsory. Social insurance is regarded as a type of social security, and the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Social insurance programmes differ from private insurance in several ways. Firstly, the contributions are normally compulsory and may be made by the insured’s employer, by the state, as well as by the insured himself. Benefits are also not as strictly tied to contributions as is the case with private insurance. For example, to make the programmes serve certain social purposes, some contributors are included among the beneficiaries even though they may not have contributed for the required period of time. Next, benefits may be increased in response to the rising cost of living, which reduces the amount between contributions and benefits. The main objective of this study is to understand the contribution and benefits of social insurance coverage under the Social Security Organisation (SOCSO)’s Invalidity Pension Scheme (IPS).

scholarly journals Formation of the System of Local Bodies of Social Security in the Ukrainian SSR (First Half of the 1920s)

2020 ◽  
pp. 18-27
Author(s):  
Victor Sharpatyi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Social Security System ◽  
Security System ◽  
Social Self ◽  
Totalitarian Regime ◽  
Functional Changes ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

The purpose of the article based on the analysis of archival sources and official documents, highlights the process of formation of local social security bodies in the Ukrainian SSR during the formation of the totalitarian regime. Find out the features of the social policy of the Soviet state and its political and ideological priorities in the social sphere. Determine the objective and subjective reasons for the failure of local social security bodies to provide full assistance to those in need. The methodology of the research is based on the principles of scientific character, objectivity, historicism. Methods: general scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and special-historical (problem-chronological, structural-synthetic, comparative). To identify the size of the social contingent of persons under guardianship, the author used elements of the statistical method. Scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that the history of the formation of the Soviet social security system in provinces, cities and districts actually became the subject of this study for the first time. The author analyzed the structural and functional changes in the work of local social security bodies, which led to the centralization of the administrative apparatus and the decentralization of functions and the mechanism of servicing those in need. Conclusions. The formation of the local social security system went through two periods: the first lasted from February 1919 to June 1920, during which an independent three-stage social security system was formed in the Ukrainian SSR. The second falls on 1921-1925, during which there were significant functional changes in social security due to the transition to NEP. The first period was characterized by a philanthropic orientation of the social security organs, coverage of all categories of the population, and during the NEP there was a strict policy of “denationalization” of social security. The state has shifted many responsibilities of social self-sufficiency to the cooperation of disabled people, social insurance agencies and various committees of mutual assistance. The middle link has lost the coordination functions of assigning pensions and other benefits, turning into an organizational, inspection and instructor unit.

Bismarck and the social question

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 284-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel van Meerhaeghe
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Security System ◽  
Social Motives ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Question ◽  
The Social

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the work of Bismarck in relation to social legislation.Design/methodology/approachBismarck's points of views are sketched mainly through quotations from his speeches in Parliament. His position regarding social protection is discussed and a brief evaluation of his policy is presented.FindingsGermany, through the work of Bismarck, was the first country where the state organised a modern social‐security system. Compulsory sickness, accident and old‐age insurances were passed in 1883, 1884 and 1889, respectively. However, the Chancellor's social policy was not the result of a comprehensive, global, “definitive” programme. It was an opportunist policy influenced more by political than by social motives.Originality/valueThe paper offers insights into Bismarck's social policy in the context of the social question.

scholarly journals THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF FINANCING SOCIAL PROTECTION IN LATVIA

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Feliciana Rajevska
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
The State ◽  
Financial Flows ◽  
The Social ◽  
General Government ◽  
Insurance Agency ◽  
The Impact

INTRODUCTION Public social protection spending in Latvia amounted to 15.2% of GDP in 2016. Financing social protection in terms of PPS per inhabitant was  only 35% of the average amount in the EU-28 in 2016. The explanation for such a permanently low level of social protection funding is not only a modest level of economic development, but traditionally a low priority of social spending in Latvian politics. The analysis of changes in the financing level of social protection, the changes in the main sources of social protection, the impact of past reforms is in focus. The wide variety in financing structures of social protection systems across Europe and the different levels of financing provides an opportunity to better  understand the specifics in  Latvia and its mixture of sources of financing social protection system. METHODS The author uses data from ESSPROS, the State Social Insurance Agency, the Ministry of Welfare for 2005-2017 for Latvia and the EU28 and is doing analysis of secondary statistical data, public policy documents, analysis of legislative acts and Cabinet Regulations from 2005-2018. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS The social insurance schemes are based on the pay-as-you-go principle and the distribution is achieved between the present contributors and the present recipients, at the same time the benefit amount is closely linked to the contributions paid by a certain individual. Such a system creates proper work incentives, albeit requires  significant resources for its administration. The State Social Insurance Agency showed an excellent performance in dealing with this  task. Latvia’s experience with the micro-enterprise tax regime demonstrated the pitfalls of an over-simplified approach to taxation, when the measure, aimed at combating unemployment, became a tax evasion trick at the cost of the workers’ social security. The strong side of the existing model of financing social protection is its ability to maintain a positive balance even in the background of a very turbulent environment. The sustainability of the social insurance budget has always been and remains a top priority for policy-makers. Social contributions play the leading role in the existing mix of financing social protection. The share of old-age function benefits is higher than the EU28 average. The expenditures on some functions grew faster: spending on disability benefits increased by 99%, on unemployment by 75%, on old-age and family benefits by 64%. The last decade demonstrated a trend to an increasing role of the general government contributions. The social contribution rates are already quite high (35.09% in 2018) and can hardly be increased, otherwise labour costs might become uncompetitive. Therefore, a further increase of general government contributions seems unavoidable. CONCLUSIONS Trends in reforms and policy changes were diverse and even contradictory: cost saving, support of specific target groups, reallocating funds in financial flows, an increase of the pension age. A number of policy adjustments were based on the lessons learned during the crisis. Means-tested benefits are thinly represented in the Latvian social security system, and the thresholds used for their calculation are inadequately low. The Latvian healthcare system is chronically underfinanced. It also has a high ratio of out-of-pocket co-financing by patients. Austerity measures had a strong influence on social protection expenditures from 2009–2014. Among the weaknesses of the social insurance schemes, one should mention the inadequately low minimum levels of benefits, especially as concerns old-age pensions. Low wage earners might have a disincentive to diligently pay the contributions, seeing that even the average old-age pension is lower than the at-risk-of-poverty threshold.

The Property Species

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bart J. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Fundamental Principle ◽  
First Century ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Full Account ◽  
Symbolic Thought ◽  
Core Property ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

What is property, and why does our species happen to have it? The Property Species explores how Homo sapiens acquires, perceives, and knows the custom of property, and why it might be relevant for understanding how property works in the twenty-first century. Arguing from some hard-to-dispute facts that neither the natural sciences nor the humanities—nor the social sciences squarely in the middle—are synthesizing a full account of property, this book offers a cross-disciplinary compromise that is sure to be controversial: All human beings and only human beings have property in things, and at its core, property rests on custom, not rights. Such an alternative to conventional thinking contends that the origins of property lie not in food, mates, territory, or land, but in the very human act of creating, with symbolic thought, something new that did not previously exist. Integrating cognitive linguistics with the philosophy of property and a fresh look at property disputes in the common law, this book makes the case that symbolic-thinking humans locate the meaning of property within a thing. The provocative implications are that property—not property rights—is an inherent fundamental principle of economics, and that legal realists and the bundle-of-sticks metaphor are wrong about the facts regarding property. Written by an economist who marvels at the natural history of humankind, the book is essential reading for experts and any reader who has wondered why people claim things as “Mine!,” and what that means for our humanity.

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