The Large Social Security Systems

KEY WORDS 

1 Transparency Institutional care Equivalence Income transfer Individual account

2  Self caring Insurance consciousness Open system Pay-as-you-go system Solidarity Transferability

 3 Defined contribution principle Institution Closed system 

Institutions that enable people to plan their lives have been discussed throughout the previous chapters only in a very general way. 

References have been made to institutions like individual insurance, social security and accumulation of wealth – and to principles such as ’’self-care’’ and solidarity. 

1. Readers have been informed that institutions and methods connected to certain institutions will be discussed in later chapters. Here comes a very general summary of what have been said about the institutions, and we will compare their main features. In a developed society, the different methods and institutions of care/”selfcare” usually form an interconnected system, the elements of which are in interaction with one another, and mutually define each another. Above, all through discussing the planning of cash flow, the need for “self-care” has been emphasised. 

2. So now, in connection with the institutions, first of all, we should examine the question whether “self-care” is opposed to other institutions of providing care? The answer beforehand is: no, and it is highly important to note that, contrary to a number of “popular” opinions of these days, self-care and solidarity are not opposite of each other. 

3. We have to notice that self-care and relying on social institutions are not conflicting ideas, thus the presence of one of them does not exclude the other. In a way, self-care is a kind of social institution to “rely on”. So to say, contrasting self-care and other ways of providing care is rather a question of consciousness and methodology. But what is all this about? 

4. Let’s suppose that somebody completely cares for himself, meaning that he does not belong to any risk community (he does not take out an insurance, does not resort to the services of social security), and does not accept any services gratis, not even if offered by his family. He makes his living by the incomes of his labour and capital throughout his life cycle. 

5. If somebody is able to do this, we can be sure that the society he is living in is quite a developed one, and that it has built up a system of social institutions (or ’’caring’’ institutions), which makes this possible. In such a society we certainly can find: 

• a system of capital investments,

 • institutions that protect property, 

• a healthcare system that provides services on a wide range (including home care services),

 • a comprehensive financial accounting network, 

• a wide range of rules and conventions, both formal and informal, which are known and accepted by members of the society,