VIII. THE SECONDARY DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME ACCOUNT
F. Social benefits
1. Introduction
| 8.75. | As already noted, there are two kinds of social benefits, i.e., social insurance benefits and social assistance benefits. The latter consist of transfers made by government units or NPIs to households to meet the same kinds of needs as social insurance benefits but outside of any social insurance scheme. The kinds of events or circumstances that may occasion the payment of social insurance benefits are described in paragraph 8.56 above. Social benefits may be paid in cash or in kind. For example, institutional units administering social insurance schemes may maintain their own clinics, convalescent or retirement homes for the treatment and care of the beneficiaries or their dependants. |
| 8.76. | When employers provide unfunded social benefits to their own employees it may not always be easy to distinguish them from the payment of wages or salaries in cash. For example, the continued payment of wages and salaries to employees during absence from work as a result of sickness, accident, maternity needs, etc. is a social benefit but it may be difficult to separate such payments from ordinary wages and salaries, except perhaps in the case of prolonged absences of several months or more. However, when the value of the imputed social contributions is estimated to be equal to the payment of such benefits in the same period, the total compensation of employees of the group of workers in question is not affected. |
2. Social benefits other than social transfers in kind (D.62)
| 8.77. | These consist of all social benefits except social transfers in kind. They therefore consist of:
(a) All social benefits in cash - both social insurance and social assistance benefits - provided by government units, including social security funds, and NPISHs; and
(b) All social insurance benefits provided under private funded and unfunded social insurance schemes, whether in cash or in kind.
In the classification used in the System, social benefits in cash provided by government units and NPISHs, category (a) above, are divided into:
Social security benefits in cash
Social assistance benefits in cash.
Social insurance benefits in category (b) above are divided into:
Private funded social insurance benefits
Unfunded employee social insurance benefits.
Social benefits in kind provided by general government and NPISHs are not recorded in the secondary distribution of income account. They form part of social transfers in kind and are recorded in the redistribution of income in kind account. | | | Text refers to: table 8.2.  |
Social security benefits in cash (D.621)
| 8.78. | These are social insurance benefits payable in cash to households by social security funds. They may take the form of:
Sickness and invalidity benefits
Maternity allowances
Childrens' or family allowances, other dependants' allowances
Unemployment benefits
Retirement and survivors' pensions
Death benefits
Other allowances or benefits.
The list is intended to be illustrative only as the coverage and range of benefits provided under social security schemes may vary from country to country. |
Private funded social insurance benefits (D.622)
| 8.79. | These are social insurance benefits payable to households by insurance enterprises or other institutional units administering private funded social insurance schemes. The kinds of benefits provided are similar to those listed above for social security funds. Unlike social security benefits, however, no distinction is made between benefits in cash and in kind as private funded benefits cannot be social transfers in kind. Both types of benefit are recorded in the secondary distribution of income account. | | | Text refers to: table 8.1. |
Unfunded employee social insurance benefits (D.623)
| 8.80. | These are social benefits payable to their employees, their dependants or survivors by employers administering unfunded social insurance schemes. All unfunded benefits are recorded in the secondary distribution of income account whether in cash or in kind. They typically include:
(a) The continued payment of normal or reduced wages during periods of absence from work as a result of ill health, accidents, maternity needs, etc.;
(b) The payment of family, education or other allowances in respect of dependants;
(c) The payment of retirement or survivors' pensions to former employees or their survivors, and the payment of severance allowances to workers or their survivors in the event of redundancy, incapacity, accidental death, etc.;
(d) General medical services not related to the employee's work;
(e) Convalescent and retirement homes. | | | Text refers to: table 8.1. |
Social assistance benefits in cash (D.624)
| 8.81. | Social assistance benefits are current transfers payable to households by government units or NPISHs to meet the same needs as social insurance benefits but which are not made under a social insurance scheme incorporating social contributions and social insurance benefits. They therefore exclude all benefits paid by social security funds. They may be payable in cash and in kind. Those in kind are part of social transfers in kind, entered in the redistribution of income in kind account. | | | Text refers to: table 8.2. |
| 8.82. | Social assistance benefits may be payable in the following circumstances:
(a) No social insurance scheme exists to cover the circumstances in question;
(b) Although a social insurance scheme, or schemes, may exist, the households in question do not participate and are not eligible for social insurance benefits;
(c) Social insurance benefits are deemed to be inadequate to cover the needs in question, the social assistance benefits being paid in addition. |
| 8.83. | Social assistance benefits do not include current transfers paid in response to events or circumstances that are not normally covered by social insurance schemes. Thus, social assistance benefits do not cover transfers in cash or in kind made in response to natural disasters such as drought, floods or earthquakes. Such transfers are recorded separately under other current transfers. |
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