The Social Security System today is one that Beveridge would Essay

The Social Security System today is one that Beveridge would recognise. Discuss - Essay Example Modern social security system is the Great Britain differs from its programs and implementations proposed during 1930s-1940s (Alcock & Craig, 2001). William Beveridge, an economist and social reformer, was one of those politicians who proposed a comprehensive social system aimed to support British population and improve conditions of life for millions of people. It is possible to say that Beveridge would resognise modern social security system because it meets the main principles and values proposed by Beveridge 70 years ago. Critics (Alcock & Craig, 2001) admit that the modern benefit system is still based on the Beveridge Report of 1942 (Siegfried 1963). Beveridge's model for a new system of social security envisaged a central role for universal and comprehensive social insurance, building on the national insurance scheme established by the 1911 Liberal Government (Aaron 1982). His intention was that the new system of insurance benefits would guarantee a subsistence level of income to cover the major causes of income loss, through unemployment, sickness, and old age, whilst individuals would be encouraged to provide a higher standard of living for their families by voluntary savings (Morgan, 1994). Beveridge hoped that such a scheme would satisfy the needs of most of the population, but accepted that a safety net of residual assistance would have to be available for those who failed to qualify under the contributory scheme (Alcock & Craig, 2001). According to the Beveridge Plan, such a social security system could not be implemented in isolation; the government also had to be committed to introducing family allowances and a national health service, and to maintaining full employment. In this way, Beveridge, like subsequent policy makers, recognized the interrelationship between social security and other areas of government policy. Today, to promote security, and particularly economic security, the Great Britain developed a variety of social security programs. Some have taken the form of "social insurance whereby contributions are made to a fund by workers, employers, self-employed persons, and governments, and payments are made to persons whose income has stopped for such reasons as old age, disability, unemployment, or death of the wage earner (Siegfried 1963). Other programs have taken the form of "social assistance" whereby persons in need receive public relief or pensions by virtue of age or for other reasons (Morgan, 1994). Still other social assistance programs have taken t he form of "social benefits" whereby all persons meeting certain qualifications such as attainment of a prescribed age and having a certain period of citizenship or residence receive benefits, without regard to any previous contributions or taxes paid or demonstration of individual need (Alcock & Craig, 2001). In contrast to previous models and programs proposed by the government, modern social security meets the basic principles and philosophy of Beveridge. As the most important, modern security system covers not only elderly people but unemployed, poor, old age, disabled and other categories. Each of the Government spends more than 1 billion on benefits and their administration (McKay & Rowlingson, 1999). Today social security benefits in Britain, as in most other developed countries, fall