2001 The Future of the Safety Net: Social Insurance and Employee Benefits

Abstract

Social insurance and employee benefits are important instruments of economic security and social inclusion in the United States and other nations. They constitute the so-called safety net, which provides citizens and employees with insurance against impoverishment as a result of old age, disability, costly medical treatment, unemployment, or other conditions that limit their ability to earn income from work. Thus, the safety net insulates vulnerable or afflicted members of society or employees of an organization in the case of employee benefits against shortfalls in personal or family resources or the stigma and uncertainty of private charity. It is a mutual, reciprocal obligation that all or nearly all members of society finance when they are able and upon which certain members of society draw when eligible or in need. In a society in which the market has become the dominant mechanism for distributing income, social insurance has emerged as a vital exception to market distribution.