Social security

Social security is a generic term, most commonly used in the USA and UK, referring to different types of state programmes for protection of the elderly [old age pensions], healthcare provision, income maintenance, inter alia. The term covers all types of state and para-state programmes, including social insurance (predominant in continental Europe), social assistance (the anglophone countries' preferred means-tested benefits for the poor) and tax-based universal benefits (more commonly found in Scandinavian countries). A country's overall state policy on these issues is frequently referred to as the "welfare state", with negative connotations and stigma attached to this in the anglophone world.

see also

• Social Security in the USA
• Welfare state
• Social policy
• Otto von Bismarck
• Theodor Lohmann