Social security

Social Security is a generic term, most commonly used in the USA and UK, referring to different types of state programmes for protection of the elderly [old age pensions], healthcare provision, income maintenance, inter alia. The term covers all types of state and para-state programmes, including social insurance [predominant in continental Europe], social assistance [the anglophone countries' preferred means-tested benefits for the poor] and tax-based universal benefits [more commonly found in Scandinaviab countries]. A country's overall state policy on these issues is frequently referred to as the "welfare state", with negative connotations and stigma attached to this in the anglophone world.

see also Welfare Stateand Social Policy