Social protection in the United States of America

The social protection in the United States covers 90% of the American population , but it remains more limited than in Europe. Even if the Social rights are not registered in the Constitution of the United States, the government of this nation applies, since the New Deal and the creation of the État-providence ( Welfare State ) several programs in order to help the people in difficulty. In 2000, 180 million Americans profited from the Social security. For several years, the role of the Welfare state has been health expenditure. A survey carried out with the beginning of the year 1990 showed that hardly an American on six thought that it was spring of the State to reduce the social inequalities. The system of distribution of the social securities is pluralist and decentralized: the Federal state gives a fixed envelope to the 50 federate States. Social protection depends on the situation of the individual: the Health insurance is not obligatory. The federal organization of the United States involves geographical inequalities as for the expenditure and with the social redistributions. Lastly, the dominant Philosophie is that the best Social Security remains the full employment: the various governments which follow one another seek before very maintaining the Economic growth and cause a drop in unemployment.

History

Chronology

1933 : Federal Emergency Relief Administration against unemployment

1935: Social Security Act : various helps are created: Aid to Dependant Children (ADC)

1938: FLSA ( Federal Labor Standards Act )

1938 (June 25th): Fair Labor Standards Act improving the work conditions

1963: EP ( Equal Pay ): equal wages for the men and the women

1964: the president Lyndon Baines Johnson states “the war against poverty”

1964, August 30th: law on the equal opportunity ( Economic Opportunity Act )

1965, July 30th: launching of the programs Medicare and Medicaid

1974: Law ERISA ( Employed Retirement Income Security Act )

1981: about fifty social programs are removed by the Reagan administration.

1993-1994: Project Clinton of reform of health (failure of the universal health insurance)

1996: Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act

Evolution of American social protection, the origins at the year 2000

the New Deal
presidency of Johnson: Lyndon Johnson registers her policy of “ Great Society ” with the work program of the Congress in January 1965: helps with education, fights against the disease, Social security, urban renovation, embellishment, ecology, development of the neglected zones, fight with large scales against the Pauvreté, control and prevention of the Crime and the Délinquance, disappearance of the last obstacles to the Right to vote. The Congress votes the laws quickly corresponding to the recommendations of Johnson. Starting from 1965, million elderly profited from the amendment Medicare with the Law on the Social security.
Under Bill Clinton, the right to the allowances unemployment was limited; training programs were launched to stimulate employment.

Assistance towards stripped

Contrary to the generally accepted ideas, the fate of the poor does not leave indifferent to the United States. It should be stressed that poverty is largely taken of load by the Americans within the framework of the charity associations (more 650 000 in all the country), of the religious organizations and the philanthropic institutions (for example the Foundation Bill & Melinda Gates). Approximately half of the high-school pupils are registered in programs of general interests (called community service ). This figure was of 22% in 1962.

Social securities

The social securities are indicated by the word Welfare and are distributed to the families living below the Poverty line; the poverty line is published by the Département of health and the government aid. In half of the States, the individuals must work for the community (by maintaining for example the public places) to be entitled to their allowances. The assistances are managed and financed by the States. The federate States receive also funds of the federal government. They have obligation of results and set up programs of insertion: the more the number of poor falls, the more the federal assistance is substantial.

the AFDC ( Aid to Families with Depends Children ) between 1935 and 1997, managed by the United States Department off Health and Human Services: they are assistances granted with the mothers with the hearth; the amount is proportional to the number of dependant childrens. This help also makes it possible to have access to the care, the free meals of the children in the school canteens and to the food coupons ( food stamps ).
Under the mandate of Bill Clinton, the AFDC is replaced by the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): more restrictive (the duration of the assistance is reduced to five years, two years to find a work), the number of its recipients strongly moved back: in 2005,1,9 million families received allowances against 4,4 million in 1996: helps with the children of less than five years.
Early Childhood Intervention is a their family and supplementary programme in favor of the problem childs. It implies a teaching specialized and an legal aid and psychological for the family.
IF ( Supplemental Security Income ) is allotted to the elderly in the need, to the blind men and to handicapped pays part of the energy expenses of poorest.

Assistances with handicapped and the invalids

IF ( Supplemental Security Income ) is allotted to the elderly in the need, to the blind men and to the handicapped people. Those increased to reach 16% of the GDP in 2007. The health expenditure public thus represents a percentage of the GNP appreciably equal to that of France. The wages of the medical personnel and male nurse are higher than those practiced in France and the number of nurses by bed is also higher, Hawaii) have their own universal health system. Since 2000, the State of the Arizona instituted after a popular Référendum of initiative a measurement of minimal medical cover for the poor.

HMOs ( Health Maintenance Organizations , “organizations of maintenance of health”, called today Managed Care Organizations ) are private insurances which seek to reduce the cost of health (generic medicines…). They propose health centres where the consultations are direct.

Medicare is a health insurance financed by the Federal state for the pensioners and the handicapped people. This system is comparable with the French health insurance, put aside that the User fee is higher than the United States and that there exist fixed prices before being refunded. This system is managed by the federate States and made it possible to decrease the number of uninsured children of a third in ten years. More than 70% of the Americans supported this initiative then, according to a survey carried out for the newspaper Washington Post and ABC; their number is in increase under the presidency of George W. Bush (46,6 million in 2005, is 15,6% of the American population) of the hour. The number of people paid with the minimum wage (primarily of the women employed) is in fall: between 1997 and 2004, it fell of 2,8 million in the United States to account for only 1,4% of the population paid working today.

Insurance unemployment

It is optional.
Certains unemployed profits from the OASDHI ( Old-Old, Survivors, Disability and Health Insurance ).

Disability

It gives place to 2/3 of the wages. The American system of the retirements is complex: there exist several modes of insurance:
Social security : federal retirement instituted during New Deal, calculated according to the number of worked years, the versed contributions and the Inflation. At the end of the Years 1990, the federal government spent 289 billion dollars for the system of the obligatory retirements.
Pensions : paid by the large companies and the public administrations: law ERISA ( Employed Retirement Income Security Act )
Retirement by capitalization will see or ( Individual Retirement Account ) consists of plans of saving-retirement and Pension funds.
the poorest pensioners receive complementary federal assistances (the OASDHI) and for the care (Medicare).

See too

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