U.K. LAGS BSHIND IN SOCIAL SECURITY
The heavy reliance on National Assistance to supplement social insurance benefits and family allowances shows that this part of Britain's social security systen is "much less than adequate".
Expressing this view in the latest issue of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research's Review, Mrs. M.F.W. Hemming points out that the national resources devoted to social security in the U.K. is less than in any of the Common Market countries. Taking cash benefits alone, the ratio is not more than about half the level in West Germany. The main reason for the low level, she says, results from the method of financing, which gears contributions to the lowest paid worker. In the Continental system, on the other hand, they are related to income, with the State paying on behalf of those least able to pay.
Mrs. Hemming says there is a strong case for establishing special benefits in the case of short term sickness and unemployment, because commitments cannot be easily reduced. There is an urgent need, too, "for bringing oldage pensions up to a subsistence level, so reducing the need for many pensioners to apply for National Assistance. There is also a strong case for automatically adjusting all pensions for increases in the cost of living, or bet~ter still, for increases in the national income."
The article claims that one of the weakest elements in the U.K. social security system is the provision of family allowances. These are much lower than in other countries which provide them. “They were insufficient when they were introduced and no real attempt has been made to maintain their real purchasing power," Mrs. Hemming adds. Trying to encourage smaller families is not a reason for reducing family allowances,