Safeguarding social security

The system of social security is in need of review. The family income is no longer always earned by a single breadwinner with a full-time job and the government cannot guarantee full employment. In its report Safeguarding social security. An outline of a new system of social security (Report no. 26, 1985), the WRR therefore calls for a system with a looser connection between benefits and work.

Proposal for a new system

The WRR presents an outline of a new system of social security. The system would consist of four inter-related elements. An important consideration for the WRR is the fact that most people’s income, general development, level of education and articulacy is greater now than when the current system of social security was created. It is therefore possible to allow more room for personal initiative and freedom of choice.

An outline, not a blueprint

The report does not present any detailed alternatives for the proposed changes that were being discussed at the time of its publication. Its actual purpose is to provide a framework for the process of change that has been initiated by those proposals.