The word social security

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Social Security or social welfare is the name given to programs to provide money for people who need it. Social security systems are often linked to health care.

War pensions are the most ancient type of social security. They are mentioned by Plutarch.

Universal benefits are those where everyone who meets the conditions — such as children under a certain age or people who are ill or disabled — are paid.

Contributions[change | change source]

In many countries social Security provides support only to people who have paid contributions. Most pension systems are for people who have paid contributions. Contributions are regular payments taken from their pay when they are working. They will be recorded by the government. The right to a pension may include dependent members of the family. Pensions may then be paid to widows and orphans. People may also make regular payments into private pensions.

Means test[change | change source]

Means tested benefits are paid to people who can show that they are poor. There are usually tests both of regular income and of capital. They are usually paid to households. Before government schemes were started in many places charities would help people who were thought to need it.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights law make the «right to an adequate standard of living» one of the human rights.

France[change | change source]

In France from the beginning of the 20th century employers were made to insure their workers against injury, illness, maternity, and death. After 1946 there was more done by the government. Now there are allowances for children — universal after the first child and Family Complement which is means tested. There are extra payments for adopted and disabled children and orphans. There are both contributory and means tested benefits for people over 65.

Unemployment insurance was started in 1958. It is managed by the employers organization and the trade unions.

There is also a means tested benefit called Revenu de solidarité active for unemployed and underemployed workers.^[1]

Germany[change | change source]

Otto von Bismarck started social security benefits in 1883. This was part of what was called State Socialism. This was the first country to do so. It included health insurance, accident insurance (workman’s compensation), disability insurance and an old-age retirement pension. ^[2]

Now there is a system of unemployment benefit. People and their employers have to pay when they are working. It lasts for up to 12 months. There is also a welfare system called Hartz IV which is means-tested. This is also for working people on low pay.

There is a state pension. The retirement age will go up to 66 by 2023. It goes by two months each year, until 2031, when the retirement age will be 67. The amount of pension is based on the pay a person had when they were working and the number of years they paid contributions.^[3]

United Kingdom[change | change source]

The English Poor Law system was set up in the Tudor period. Monasteries had given a lot of support to the poor but they were closed. Beggars were sent back to their homes. Workhouses were set up by the parishes for people who could not earn money and they were given work to do. They were paid for by a local tax on the property of the richest people in the parish.^[4]

Pensions were introduced for poor people over 70 in 1908. The National Insurance Act was passed in 1911. This introduced National Insurance Contributions, which gave free medical treatment to working men, sick pay of 10 shillings a week for 26 weeks and 30 shillings Maternity Grant. Unemployed workers could get 7 shillings per week for up to 15 weeks in a year.^[5]

The Beveridge Report of 1942 proposed a big expansion of this system and Clement Attlee’s government passed laws to make it happen. The National Insurance Act 1946 included sickness and unemployment benefits. This was popular and the Conservative Party (UK) continued it. Married women were expected to rely on their husbands for support. They were not entitled to the same benefits as men. There were widows benefits for women whose husbands died but no benefits for men whose wives died.

National Assistance was the main means tested benefit from 1948 to 1966. Then Supplementary Benefit was introduced, and the legal rules were published. People could go to court about it. It was replaced by Income Support in 1988. Help with the cost of rent came from Housing Benefit. From 2013 Universal Credit began to replace all the means tested benefits.

In 1970 new benefits for disabled people were introduced: Attendance Allowance and Mobility Allowance. In 1976 Invalid Care Allowance was introduced, but married women could not claim it. Spending on disability benefits rose from 0.1% of GDP in 1980-81 to 0.7% of GDP in 2020-21. The number of people getting disability benefits went up from 1.2 million in 1997 to 2.5 million in 2021-22.^[6]

Around 2000 there were changes designed to end the discrimination against women. Women’s benefits no longer depended on their husbands National Insurance contributions. The state pension age was set at 60 for women, and 65 for men in 1948. At that time most men did not live to claim their pension for long. Women lived on average about 5 years longer than men. In 1995 the law was changed so that the women’s pension age would be made equal with men. After 2007 the age people could claim a pension was gradually raised because life expectancy had improved. On average men lived to be more than 80 and women about 84.^[7]

The Child Poverty Action Group produces books about the British social security system every year. They explain people’s rights.

United States[change | change source]

In the United States, this refers to a program started in the New Deal. The program first gave money only to a few old people, but is now used by millions of people and is one of the largest and most costly programs in the government. The Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program covers 94% of workers. State and local government workers have pension plans at the state or local level. Retirement Insurance Benefits are paid to people over the age of 62. The amount is increased of the person delays their claim.

Social Security in the United States is managed by the Social Security Administration, and a person in the program gets a number and has it forever, mainly because of tax reports.

See also: Social Security (United States)

[change | change source]

• Welfare state

Other websites[change | change source]

• Social security Citizendium

References[change | change source]

Research Notes & Special Studies by the Historian’s Office

Research Notes & Special Studies by the Historian’s Office

Research Note #24: Origins of the Term «Social Security»

The term «social security» was not in widespread use in 1935 when it enshrined in the title of the Social Security Act. In fact, the original title of the Roosevelt Administration’s bill was the Economic Security Act, and the title of the committee which drafted the legislative proposal was the Committee on Economic Security. It was during consideration of the Economic Security bill in the Congress that the name was changed to Social Security Act and that became the familiar term from that day forward. How this change occurred is not entirely clear, as the matter was not formally documented. It appears to have occurred in an executive session of the House Ways and Means Committee. Who first made the suggestion is also open to some doubt. Three different individuals have been identified as the Congressman making the motion to change the name: Congressman Woodruff (R-MI), Congressman Frank Buck (D-CA) and Congressman Jere Cooper (??) . Edwin Witte, Chairman of the CES, and someone who was present at the event, remembers it being Congressman Woodruff. Thomas Eliot, who was also likely present at the executive session when the change was made, remembers it being Congressman Cooper. Research by SSA Historian Abe Bortz decided on Buck. Here, then, are three, somewhat divergent, accounts of how the Social Security program got its name.

Professor Witte’s Account:(This is an excerpt from a 1955 interview with Professor Witte.) Mr. Cohen: Speaking about drafting the bill, the first Economic Security bill—that is, the one carrying out the recommendations of the President and the Committee on Economic Security—was drafted by Tom Eliot, wasn’t it? Professor Witte: He was the Counsel of the Committee. He had been with the Solicitor’s Office of the Department of Labor, and served as its counsel throughout the existence of the Committee. He drafted the Economic Security bill. The title of the Committee and of the bill at the time was «Economic Security.» It was not until congressional consideration that the title «Social Security» came in, but it was the original measure in the Congress of the United States—particularly in the House Ways and Means Committee. The bill was changed considerably in appearance and also to some degree in content. It became the Social Security bill and ultimately the Social Security Act. Mr. Cohen: The United States was the first country then to use and to spread the use of the term «social security,» wasn’t it? Professor Witte: Social security had been used very slightly in this connection prior to the Social Security Act. I recall very well the Executive Committee meeting of the House Ways and Means Committee where it was decided to give the bill a new name. The Committee for many reasons wanted to change the bill from the original administration bill, and, after more important changes had been agreed upon, some members suggested that the title should be changed. Then there was a free-for-all discussion. What should be the title? Some members hit upon «social security» and that was the term. That term, following the enactment of the Social Security Act, was applied to everything that was in the Social Security Act and related programs in discussions in this country. It was not adopted on a world-wide basis until about 1940. In fact, it was not used other than in the United States. The terms used elsewhere were social insurance, social policy, and various other titles. In 1940 the International Labor Office issued an important report called «Approaches to Social Security» and after that the term became universal for the programs which we now designate by that term. Mr. Cohen: Professor Witte, it is sometimes said that in the United States Abe Epstein’s organization was the first to use the term it «social security.» What is the story behind that? Professor Witte: That is at least partially true. Abraham Epstein organized the American Association for Old Age Security in 1927 and he did very valuable work in promoting old-age assistance laws. In 1933 he was writing a book, in which he does not use the word «social security,» and became very much interested in the controversy then in progress over the type of unemployment insurance law that should be enacted in the States. In 1933 Epstein broadened his organization also to cover unemployment insurance. At that time, as I know from having been a member of his executive council, he was looking for some broader title than old-age security. It is my understanding that Mr. Lee Frankel, who was then Commissioner of Welfare of the State of New Jersey, suggested the title «social security.» Then the Association for Old Age Security became the Association for Social Security. But aside from this, «social security» was not used. Epstein himself did not use it except in the title of his organization. When the House Ways and Means Committee was looking for a title for its bill—different than the Economic Security Act—I think it was Mr. Woodruff of Michigan, a Republican member of the Committee, who may have known something about Epstein’s association, suggested «social security.» That was adopted by the committee without dissent and almost without discussion because it seemed to be very appropriate.

Thomas Eliot’s Account: (In 1964, Abe Bortz wrote to Mr. Eliot, who was at that time Chancellor of St. Louis University, asking for his recollection of this event. This is the letter Mr. Eliot wrote in response.) Mr. Abe Bortz Historian Division of Research and Statistics Department of Heal th, Education, and Welfare Social Security Administration Baltimore, Maryland 21235 Dear Mr. Bortz: My recollection about the change in the name of the Economic Security Bill to the «Social Security Bill» is not absolutely clear. I remember that the change was made during a meeting of the Ways and Means Committee, but I did not recall that Buck made the motion. For what it is worth, my slightly uncertain recollection is that the matter under discussion was the title of the Board, which, in the original draft, was called the «Social Insurance Board.» Somebody indicated an objection to that name. Somebody else—and I would have guessed that it was either Cooper or Vinson—moved to change the name to «Social Security Board. » It was after this was done, I would guess, that somebody then said that the whole bill might as well have its name changed from «Economic Security» to «Social Security»; but, again, I have always associated Jere Cooper with this change, not Buck.

Historian’s Office February 2001

Last Updated:
27 Mar 2023
— Updated example sentences