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Social security

Social security gives practical expression to Article 20 of the Dutch Constitution, which imposes a duty upon the government to ensure the socioeconomic security of the population and an adequate distribution of wealth. Virtually every citizen comes into contact with social security, whether as a taxpayer, through payment of social security contributions or as a benefit recipient.

Income risks
In practice, social security chiefly comprises the following arrangements, which are designed to cover the traditional income risks:

  • old-age pension to cover a declining or inadequate income due to old age
  • unemployment benefit to cover loss of income caused by unemployment
  • incapacity benefit to cover loss of income due to incapacity for work
  • surviving dependant's benefit in the event of the death of a breadwinner
  • child benefit to help with the costs of raising children
  • continued payment of salary by employers in the event of sickness
  • social assistance benefit to accommodate any remaining need

In a broader sense, leave arrangements and tied transfers (such as rent benefit), subsidised employment and certain labour market measures (such as the minimum wage and working conditions policy) also fall within social security, as does policy aimed at preventing risks and fostering reintegration.

Effects
A substantial portion of the national budget is earmarked for social security spending. The social security system has direct consequences for the degree of poverty and social exclusion, income inequality and other social differentials, and for the opportunities of vulnerable groups on the labour market. Social security also generates external effects, for example on the economy (labour costs, unemployment, consumption and savings, propensity to invest and the profile of the population (birth rate, life expectancy, migration processes).

Research at SCP
Social security research is the province of the Labour, Income & Social Security research group. Other research groups within SCP also regularly investigate topics related to social security, for example the Public Services Sector and Emancipation, Youth & Family research groups. SCP's regular publications, such as the Social and Cultural Report (Sociaal en Cultureel Rapport) and The Social State of the Netherlands (De Sociale Staat van Nederland), as well as the reports on specific policy target groups (the elderly, children, ethnic minorities) discuss general aspects of social security.

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