An Introduction to the British Social Security System

Abstract

Social security has, as one of its primary aims, the provision of financial support, usually in the form of a benefit payment, to those deemed to be poor or facing the threat of poverty. It provides assistance to compensate for a lack of financial resources, most obviously where an individual is not able to work because of such factors as sickness, disability, unemployment or old age. Social security can also be paid as a ‘top up’ for individuals who are working but are in receipt of low wages, while some social security provision targets particular groups in society, such as disabled individuals or families with children, who are deemed to have specific needs that warrant financial assistance. In Britain, in the twentieth century, the state has played a major role in the provision of social security with, for example, the first social security provision in the event of unemployment being established in 1911. Such state provision of social security can take a number of forms depending on two features: first, the way in which the resources to finance the benefits are acquired and secondly, the criteria by which entitlement to a social security benefit is determined. Turning to the first of these, the British social security system has been dominated by the difference between contributory and non-contributory social security benefits.