Social Security

The role of the state in the provision of social security is very comprehensive in Britain, France and Germany, although non-state schemes such as private occupational pensions exist in all three countries. In Britain, social security benefits are financed by a combination of compulsory national (or social) insurance contributions, which are levied on employers and all but the lowest paid employees, and general taxation, with taxation being the larger contributor. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), a ministry of central government, is responsible for delivering the benefits. In contrast, the French and German social security systems are overwhelmingly social-insurance based, and most benefits are delivered by semi-autonomous social insurance funds.