Social Security and Welfare Services

Social Security and Welfare Services
▪ 1994

Introduction
      With a Democratic administration in the White House for the first time in 12 years, the U.S. moved boldly in the area of social welfare in 1993. Elsewhere in the world social security and welfare programs continued to be affected by adverse economic conditions and governments' concern over future population pressures. Despite some signs of economic recovery in the industrialized world, unemployment levels remained high, and more attention was focused on the rapidly increasing numbers of sickness beneficiaries and disability pensioners. Added to these problems were migration pressures, particularly in Western Europe, as people sought relief from the desperate conditions and poverty in their home countries. Central and Eastern European countries made progress in the reform of their social protection schemes, but increasing levels of poverty were evident as the real value of benefits fell further and unemployment increased. In less developed countries governments still looked for ways of improving coverage and benefit levels as well as overcoming serious financial imbalances.

The U.S. and Canada.
      Soon after taking office, U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton appointed his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton (see BIOGRAPHIES), to head the Task Force on National Health Care Reform. In September, after months of hearings, the president announced a plan for overhauling the health care system, based on the principle of "health security to all Americans" in the form of lifetime health insurance.

      While details of the plan were sketchy and disagreement arose over many aspects, there was general agreement that something had to be done. The U.S. was spending more than $900 billion on health care in 1993, or 14.7% of its gross national product (GNP). At the same time, according to the Census Bureau, an estimated 37.4 million Americans, about one-fourth of them children, did not have health insurance. Virtually all other industrialized countries provided some form of national health care for their citizens while spending a lower percentage of GNP on that care.

      Two of the boldest proposals in the Clinton plan were aimed at containing the costs of the fastest-growing government entitlement programs—Medicaid, the joint federal-state health insurance plan for the poor, and Medicare, which provided health insurance for the elderly. The proposal called for cutting $114 billion, or 16%, of the money that otherwise would be spent on Medicaid between 1996 and 2000. Projected growth for Medicare would be reduced by $124 billion, or 20%, over the same five-year period, mainly by a slowdown in the rise of payments to doctors and hospitals.

      The need for welfare reform in the U.S. was also pointed up by data that appeared in 1993. The Census Bureau reported that the number of poor Americans had reached 36.9 million, or 14.5% of the total population, in 1992. That was an increase of 1.2 million over the previous year and the highest figure since 1962. It included 14.6 million children, more than one of every five. The official poverty level in 1992 was $14,335 for a family of four and $7,143 for a single person. The problem of welfare reform also was put in the hands of a task force, which conducted a series of hearings around the country and gave President Clinton its recommendations at the end of the year.

      Many states did not wait for the federal government to act. According to the National Governors' Association, more than a dozen states tightened regulations or set up welfare-to-work programs aimed at making clients self-sufficient, and additional states were planning new programs.

      Federal and state spending on Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), the major welfare program, grew to $25,783,000 in 1993, and the number of families receiving aid hovered around the five million level. However, it was reported that financially strapped states had sharply reduced their "safety net" programs for the poor in 1992 for the second straight year. For example, 44 states cut or froze AFDC benefits, and 26 of the 27 states that provided supplemental benefits to poor, elderly, and disabled recipients of Social Security income also cut or froze those benefits.

      President Clinton pushed for greater social investment in his budget plan, but he got only part of what he requested. One of the most significant expansions was in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for low- and moderate-income working families with children. Families with two or more children and a full-time minimum-wage earner would receive increased credits to bring them up to the poverty level. In addition, EITC would be extended for the first time to about 4.5 million very low-income workers without children. Elsewhere in Clinton's budget request were plans to set up a child-immunization program and establish a family-preservation program to help troubled families stay together. The Food Stamp program was expanded to cover more of the working poor, and some benefits were increased. The number of food stamp recipients reached an all-time high of 27,375,000 in March 1993.

      The compromise budget enacted by Congress included cuts of $55.8 billion in Medicare and $7 billion in Medicaid over the next five years. About one-eighth of Social Security recipients—those with the highest incomes—would have to pay taxes on more of their Social Security benefits. Congress repassed the Family and Medical Leave Act that had been vetoed by Pres. George Bush in 1992, and it was signed by President Clinton. The law allowed workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period because of the birth or adoption of a child; the need to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, or parent; or the worker's own serious illness. Congress also enacted a scaled-down, $1.5 billion version of Clinton's National Service initiative. It would provide tuition grants of $4,725 a year (for up to two years) and subsistence wages to some 100,000 college and trade-school students over the next three years. In return, the students would perform community service.

      Canada also embarked on health-care reform during 1993. In addition to developing a National Action Plan involving more effective resource management and reducing medical school enrollments by 10%, the government established an Institute for Health Information to collect more standardized data and to inform people about their roles and responsibilities in the area of health care. In January the Child Tax Benefit replaced family allowances and the former child benefits provided through the tax system. It comprised a single monthly payment and was calculated on the basis of family income and number of children. Canada also took steps to reduce unemployment payments and tighten eligibility criteria.

Western Europe.
      A number of European governments took action in 1993 to curtail expenditures on their pension systems. Major changes were announced in France—indexation of pensions was to be reduced from twice yearly to annually, and the insurance period for maximum pension was to be gradually increased from 150 to 160 quarters, while pension levels would be determined on the basis of earnings over the highest 25 years rather than the highest 10. Italy introduced legislation to provide for a complementary retirement pension scheme. Greece changed its definition of pensionable earnings and simplified the benefit formula to reduce the longer-term level of pensions. Both Greece and Portugal intended to phase in an increase to 65 years in the retirement age for women, while Portugal also planned to reduce the level of benefits for new pensioners. Austria made changes effective July 1993 primarily designed to encourage people to continue working at least until the normal retirement age through the introduction of a bonus system for those remaining in the workforce after age 60 (55 for women) and the introduction of a partial pension for older workers employed on a part-time basis. Finland introduced employee contributions for the first time for employment-related pensions as well as providing incentives for older workers to stay in employment, if only on a part-time basis.

      European Community countries were encouraged to focus their attention on flexible retirement provisions. On June 30, 1993, the European Council approved a resolution requesting member states to develop their employment and social security policies to promote greater flexibility for employees in their transition to retirement. Despite high levels of unemployment, member states were also preoccupied with the aging of their populations and were looking at ways of keeping older workers in employment and utilizing their skills and experience to offset potential skill shortages and reduce the strain on social security funds in the future.

      Significant changes were still occurring within European health insurance systems as costs continued to escalate. Following a major reform in 1992, Germany announced further amendments, which took effect from Jan. 1, 1993, designed to achieve savings through reduced rates of reimbursement and increased pharmaceutical co-payments. France sought to contain costs by increasing daily hospital charges and reducing reimbursement rates for outpatient care. The changes came into effect on Aug. 1, 1993. In Belgium there were proposals to introduce a substantially higher schedule of co-payments, part of which would be refunded through the personal tax system at the end of each year. Spain restricted the range of pharmaceuticals covered by state subsidies, having made significant changes to its sickness insurance in 1992 by shifting the cost of benefits for the first two weeks to employers.

      More industrialized countries became concerned about the increasing numbers of people of workforce age receiving social security payments. The U.K. introduced more rigorous conditions for the receipt of unemployment benefits to reduce the extent of fraud and abuse and also introduced initiatives to help beneficiaries return to work. Showing concern over increasing expenditures on invalidity benefits, the government introduced measures in April 1993 to achieve substantial savings through better targeting of medical examinations and improved administrative procedures.

      Tighter procedures for people with disabilities were introduced in The Netherlands. New beneficiaries received lower benefits and only on a temporary basis, with the amount and duration varying according to age. Other countries also had to make changes in their unemployment insurance programs to cope with increased costs. France and Denmark increased contribution rates, and Switzerland agreed to extend the duration of payments but reduced the level from 80 to 70% of previous earnings for those without dependents. Sweden reduced payments and tightened eligibility conditions. France and Germany both introduced tough new laws in an attempt to stop the flow of immigrants who were either working illegally or relying on state assistance while they sought asylum. At the end of the year Germany cut a number of social welfare programs.

Central and Eastern Europe.
      Albania, Belarus, and Estonia introduced new systems of social security in 1993, while other countries in the region focused on implementing the legislation they had recently introduced. Major problems still confronted the social security systems of these countries, however. Poverty levels were rising as more and more people became unemployed during the process of economic restructuring, and eligibility conditions were tightened in many countries for disability and early-retirement pensions. In addition, high levels of inflation persisted, particularly in food prices, resulting in declining real values of both wages and benefits. It was evident that there was an urgent need for transition measures, but very few of these countries had been able to implement viable social assistance schemes. Furthermore, the new social insurance schemes would require effective administrative processes, which would, in turn, require investment in modern technology and intensive training of staff to ensure that both employees and employers complied with the new arrangements.

Industrialized Asia and the Pacific.
      Like the countries of Western Europe, Japan was considering an increase in the retirement age for its Employees' Pension Insurance system from 60 to 65 years to align it with the National Pension system. Other measures to keep older employees in the workforce were proposed, including the introduction of a partial pension to enable employees to combine part-time work with retirement. Australia announced its intention to phase in an increase in the retirement age for women to 65, the same as for men, in the context of an overall strategy to increase national savings and reduce reliance on the state pension system. In July 1993 Singapore introduced legislation requiring companies to increase the minimum retirement age from 55 to 60 years, with further increases likely in the future.

Emerging and Less Developed Countries.
      There were few major changes in these areas during 1993, and the problems of inadequate coverage and financial imbalance still predominated. Further progress was made in upgrading and computerizing the administration of social security systems, in many cases a necessary first step to extending coverage to the self-employed and employees in the rural and informal sectors. Colombia proposed a savings and pension scheme for old-age, disability, and survivor pensions, similar to schemes that had already been introduced in some other Latin-American countries. Argentina considered legislation for a major reform to take effect in 1994, while Mexico announced increases in contribution rates and reductions in benefits. In Africa and Asia some countries considered proposals to convert their provident funds into pension schemes and extend coverage to health care, but in general there were only incremental changes to existing arrangements, such as increases in contributions and earnings ceilings as well as adjustments to benefits to compensate partially for the effects of inflation.

      The government in China focused its attention on the reforms in social security that were needed to cope with the transition to a market economy and the rapid aging of the country's population. Like the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, China was looking at ways of overcoming the significant problems of poverty in the short term while introducing a sustainable social security system for both rural and urban areas in the longer term.

      (DAVID M. MAZIE; JUDITH E. RAYMOND)

      See also Education ; Health and Disease ; Insurance (Industrial Review ).

      This updates the article social service.

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Universalium. 2010.

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