Social Security in European Countries That Border the Mediterranean Sea

Table of Contents

TABLE OF  CONTENTS  IV

TABLE OF  FIGURES  V

  INDEX OF TABLES  VI

TABLE OF  ACRONYMS  VII

1  INTRODUCTION  8

2  CRITERIONS OF THE VALUATION MODEL  9

2.1  Overview over Demographic Trends  9

2.2  Social Protection Expenditures  11

2.3  Financing of the Welfare Systems  15

2.3.1  The Structure of Sources of Receipts  15

2.3.2  Reform Ideas in France Italy and Spain  16

2.4  The Fight Against the Poverty With Redistribution  18

3  VALUATION OF THE PRESENTED WELFARE SYSTEMS  20

3.1  The Method of Scoring  20

3.2  Realization of the Scoring  20

4  CONCLUSION  22

  BIBLIOGRAPHY  23

  ANNEX  25

Table of Figures

  Figure 1: Ratio of people aged 65 and over to the working age population p  9

  Figure 2: Rate of population growth until 2050 (estimated)  p.10

  Figure 3: Employment rate of women and men aged 65-74 in 2000  p.11

  Figure 4: Social protection expenditures per inhabitant in PPS  p.12

  Figure 5: Percentage of beneficiaries of social benefits other than pensions  p.12

  Figure 6: Structure of social protection expenditures in 2000  p.13

  Figure 7: Structure of expenditures for all types of pensions in 1998  p.14

  Figure 8: Structure of sources of receipts in 2000  p.15

  Figure 9: Inequalities in income distribution before and after redistribution  p.18

Index of Tables

Table 1: Distribution of social benefits other than pensions by quintiles of income p.19

Table 2:: Scoring of each criterion and country

Table of Acronyms

  cp compare  

  D Germany  

  E Spain  

  F France  

  GR Greece  

  I Italy  

  PPS Purchasing Power Standards  

1 Introduction

The question of social security and proposals for solutions are often discussed in Germany. But the welfare system is not only in this country a main topic: There are proposals of reforms in many western industrial countries. In this context it is interesting to know which problems other European states have and how they try to guarantee social security. This report analyzes the social policies in the European countries that border the Mediterranean Sea. In order to limit the text to a size of 15 pages, the work is concentrated on the member states of the European Union situated next to the Mediterranean Sea. Thus 89 percent of human beings in the Mediterranean area of Europe are considered. 1 Another focal point is the old-age insurance in France, Greece, Italy and Spain always in comparision with Germany. This part of social security was chosen because the expenditures for the old-age pension are higher than the other social contributions.

A valuation model will compare the welfare systems of France, Greece,

Italy, Spain and Germany in the end. The necessary criterions are presented in the following study. The demographic conditions of the countries, the level of social security, the financing of the welfare systems and the redistribution of social contributions. The fight against the poverty is considered as a central task of welfare systems. That is why redistribution is an important criterion in the valuation model.

1 cp. table in the annex: population in the European countries that border the Mediterranean Sea