SSL2601 EXAM PACK.

SSL2601 EXAM PACK. 1 Study unit 1: Introduction to social security What are the objectives of social security? The purpose of social security is to assist destitute or poor members of society. It aims to provide a minimum standard of living below which no one should fall. A person whose income is insufficient to afford the basic necessities of life is considered to be poor. This may also be referred to as absolute poverty. What is poverty? Poverty is defined relative to the rest of society and the range of incomes enjoyed by members of that society. It is a person who, as a result of an inadequate income, is not able to enjoy the level of living standard typical of a specific society will be considered to be poor. How is the concept of social security defined? Social security has no fixed meaning and its definition is subject to constant change and development over time – depending on the circumstances that prevail in a particular country. A number of factors, including structural, cultural, historical, political, and a country’s socioeconomic situation, play a huge role in shaping and defining a country’s approach to social security Explain the roots of social security in South Africa. In South Africa, social security has its roots in sections 27(1) (c) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. Section 27 provides as follows: - (1) Everyone has the right to have access to – o (a) health care services, including reproductive health care; o (b) sufficient food and water; and o (c) social security, including, if they are unable to support themselves and their dependants, appropriate social assistance. - (2) The state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of each of these rights. - (3) No one may be refused emergency medical treatment How is formal social security characterised? 2 - Formal social security is characterised by its division into social insurance and social assistance. - Social assistance in South Africa comprises mainly the grant system, which allows the poor and indigent people access to certain grants. Social assistance also provides for social services, social relief and charity. - Social relief comes from the form of short-term or temporary measures aimed at individuals or communities who are in crisis. What does social insurance entail? Social insurance entails statutory schemes that provide protection against unemployment, occupational injuries and diseases – as well as injuries occurring as a result of road accidents. Social insurance for health and retirement is not provided for through statutory schemes, but through several private schemes that provide protection against these “risks”. This is called the risk-based approach. Because South Africa has followed a risk-based approach, the present system lacks a comprehensive approach to social protection. What are the recommendations made by the Taylor Committee for social security reform in South Africa? The Taylor Committee had in inquiry into a Comprehensive System of Social Security in South Africa and recommended in its 2002 Report that South Africa’s social security system must be changed in order to address the underlying structural and material basis of social exclusion, as well as poverty. Social insurance is also often available only to people in formal employment who qualify as “employees” to the exclusion of those employed in the informal sector and those who do not qualify as employees as defined by various pieces of legislation. How does the International Labour Organization define social security? They define it as “the protection which society provides for its members, through a series of public measures, against the economic and social distress that otherwise would be caused by the stoppage or substantial reduction of earnings resulting from sickness, maternity, employment injury, unemployment, invalidity, old age and death; the provision of medical care; and the provision of subsidies for families with children.” What are the nine classic risks that every social security system must aim to provide protection against named by the ILO Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention 102 of 1952? The nine classic risks that every social security system must aim to provide protection against, namely medical care, sickness benefit, unemployment benefit, old age benefit,