Functions and models of state social policy. Basic models of the welfare state Liberal social model of the welfare state

One of the models of the welfare state is the liberal model, which is based on the principle that personal responsibility of each member of society for their own destiny and the fate of his family. The role of the state in this model is insignificant. Funding for social programs comes primarily from private savings and private insurance. At the same time, the task of the state is to stimulate the growth of personal incomes of citizens.

The liberal model is based on dominance of market mechanisms. Social help It turns out, based on the minimum social needs, to the poor and low-income sections of the population who are not able to independently obtain a means of subsistence. Financial assistance is provided only on the basis of a means test. Thus, the state bears, albeit limited, but nevertheless universal responsibility for the social security of all citizens who are incapable of an effective independent economic existence.

In relation to people with disabilities, they mainly develop anti-discrimination measures aimed at creating disabled people level playing field and rights with other citizens.

Also, you can not create additional requirements for a job that deliberately infringe on the opportunities of people with disabilities, unless this is a necessary component of job duties (for example, having a driver's license or the ability to quickly move around the city using public transport).

In general, such measures, such as anti-discrimination legislation for persons with disabilities, have proven effective. But it must be taken into account that these measures can operate only in the conditions of a developed legal and judicial system.

In the field of industrial relations created maximum conditions for the development of entrepreneurial activity. The owners of enterprises are not limited in any way in making independent decisions regarding the development and restructuring of production, including the dismissal of employees who turned out to be unnecessary. The destiny of trade unions is to defend the interests of workers with the greatest experience in the event of the threat of mass layoffs, which, however, they do not always succeed.

This model is quite effective in conditions of economic stability or growth, but in a recession and a forced reduction in production, accompanied by the inevitable cuts in social programs, many are in a vulnerable position social groups especially women, young people and the elderly.

Like the other two models (corporate and social democratic), liberal is nowhere to be found in its pure form. In the US, there are many benefits paid outside of Social Security. There are at least 100 financial assistance programs (many of them short-term; upon expiration they are replaced by others), varying in scope, electoral criteria, sources of funding and goals. Moreover, numerous programs operate in isolation, without constituting a balanced and organized system, as a result of which they do not cover fairly large groups of people in need of material assistance, including the unemployed who want to work, for whom a very modest amount of benefits and compensations has been established. However, such programs are to some extent encourage social dependency among Afro-Asian and Hispanic people: there were whole groups that practically did not work for society for a day for two or three generations. Another significant drawback of these programs is the negative impact on family relationships: they often provoke divorces, separation of parents, since the receipt of financial assistance depends on marital status.

The liberal model has a number of negative features.

First, it promotes division of society into rich and poor those who are forced to be content with a minimum level of state social services and those who can afford to purchase high quality services on the market.

Secondly, such a model excludes a large part of the population from the provision of public social services which makes it unpopular and unsustainable in the long run (poor quality services are provided to poor and politically marginalized groups). TO strengths This model can be attributed to the policy of differentiation of services depending on income, less sensitivity to demographic changes, the ability to maintain sufficient low level taxation.

Meanwhile, throughout recent years there is an obvious trend towards "cutting" the volume of social benefits provided by the state to the population. And this policy finds significant support of the population. It can be concluded that the liberal model of social protection is strengthening its foundations and becoming even more liberal. Some researchers draw attention to the fact that the policy within the framework of the liberal model, aimed at the actual exclusion from society and the reduction of resources for the livelihood of the poor, has a negative expression in increase in the number of crimes in the United States committed by citizens from the poor, because others can do what they want. and no obligations to you, including moral and ethical ones.

Page 3

At liberal model social policy, the state assumes responsibility for maintaining only the minimum income of citizens and for the well-being of the least weak and disadvantaged sections of the population. But on the other hand, it maximally stimulates the creation and development in society various forms non-state social policy, for example, non-state social insurance and social support, as well as various ways increasing citizens' incomes. The main advantage of the liberal model is the orientation towards revealing the abilities of members of society (primarily for productive and creative work) in the interests of an unlimited increase in the level of their consumption by the state and partial redistribution of resources in the interests of social support for citizens in need of it. Citizens who constantly participated with their contributions in the systems of compulsory social insurance (primarily pension), the level of income in the event of insured events (for example, reaching retirement age) decreases slightly. The consequence of the economic and social self-realization of citizens is the independence of most of them from the state, which is a factor in the development of civil society.

The shortcomings of this model are manifested in significant differences between the levels of consumption of economically strong and economically weak citizens; the values ​​of social payments made from the state budget, on the one hand, and social insurance systems, on the other hand. These differences for various categories people also occur when receiving social benefits from the same funding sources.

An important point of the liberal model of social policy is the rooted in individual and public consciousness of a sense of high personal responsibility for one's social well-being and attitude towards the state not as the only source of social benefits, but as a guarantor of one's rights and freedoms.

The corporate model assumes the principle corporate responsibility that the maximum responsibility for the fate of its employees lies with the corporation, enterprise, organization or institution where this employee works. The enterprise, stimulating employees to make the maximum labor contribution, offers them various types of social guarantees in the form of pensions, partial payment for medical, recreational services and education (training). In this model, both the state, and non-governmental organizations, and citizens also bear a share of responsibility for social well-being in society, but enterprises with their own branched social infrastructure and their own social insurance funds still play an important role.

The financial basis in the corporate model of social policy is the funds of enterprises and corporate social funds, therefore, employer organizations play an important role here, for which social policy is an essential element of the labor (human) resources management system.

The social model implies the principle of joint responsibility, that is, the responsibility of the whole society for the fate of its members. This is a redistributive model of social policy, in which the rich pay for the poor, the healthy for the sick, the young for the old. The main public institution that implements such a redistribution is the state.

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Introduction

1. Liberal model of the welfare state

2. Liberal model of the welfare state: advantages and disadvantages

2.1 Advantages and disadvantages

2.2 Position of modern liberals

Conclusion

Introduction

Relevance. The economic crisis has revived concepts that, as it seemed a couple of years ago, remained in the distant past. Marx and Keynes were again elevated to the rank of oracles. No, no one took them out of the pantheon of classics. However, Keynesian economic policy, and indeed the Marxist image of a just society, have long ceased to be mainstream. Liberal principles dominated the minds of politicians and government economists. This does not mean that Western societies have begun to live according to the canons of classical liberalism. Nevertheless, it was liberalism that became the dominant mode of thought of the political elite.

The unregulated free market has been blamed for the current crisis. Radical intellectuals who rejected capitalism began to find interest and understanding among politicians. The global economy was given a disappointing diagnosis: the cause of the crisis was the fact that states, due to globalization, lost control over the ongoing economic processes. They traded global chaos for order at home. And therefore, the state needs to be strengthened by restoring the “correct” regulation, and then the economic machine will start working like clockwork again. The main thing is not to let capitalism out of control again. This point of view is now shared by both the "man from the street" and highbrow specialists.

1. Liberalwelfare state model

The basis of the liberal model of the welfare state is an individual principle, which assumes the personal responsibility of each member of society for their own destiny and the destiny of their family. In this case, the role of state structures in the direct implementation of social policy is minimized. Its main subjects are the individual and various non-governmental organizations - social insurance funds and associations. financial basis social programs are primarily private savings and private insurance. Therefore, the principle of equivalence, retribution, and not solidarity, operates here. Under the liberal model of social policy, the state assumes responsibility for maintaining only the minimum income of citizens and for the well-being of the least disadvantaged segments of the population. But on the other hand, it maximally stimulates the creation and development in society of various forms of non-state social insurance and social support, as well as various means and ways for citizens to receive and increase their income.

A liberal model based on social support for vulnerable sections of society, which is implemented through the institution of social assistance; state measures are reduced to the establishment of low uniform tariff rates in the field of pension insurance; the distribution of wealth is close to what the market provides. This kind of model of state social policy is typical for Great Britain, the USA, Canada and Australia;

The liberal model also considers the market as the most important area for the organization of human interaction, but differs from the conservative one, at least meta in two respects. In the liberal, firstly, social security of the residual type is provided, that is, people, as a rule, should be able to exist in society without social security. Second, the government currently has a limited, yet universal, responsibility for the welfare of all citizens. Accordingly, welfare is associated with deep stigma, thus leading to little payoff. Due to the residual nature of funding, the implementation of the model depends on the availability of a large amount of voluntary informal assistance.

The strength of the above is in macroeconomic and political ways assessing the nature of social policy; weak - in a certain conventionality of the methods of assessment used. It seems that some of their abstractness could be leveled by the use of indicators of the distribution of the produced national product and the institutional approach.

The liberal (US-British) model also considers the market as the most important area for the organization of human interaction. However, it has a number of features. Firstly, it provides for social security of the residual type, i.e. citizens must be able to exist in society without social security. Secondly, the state bears a limited, yet universal responsibility for the welfare of all citizens. Due to the residual nature of funding, the implementation of the model depends on the availability of a large amount of voluntary and informal assistance. A similar model of the welfare state is typical for the USA, Great Britain, England and Ireland.

2. Liberal model of the welfare state: advantages and disadvantages

2.1 Advantages and disadvantages

There are several models of the welfare state. One of them is the liberal model, which is based on an individual principle that provides for the personal responsibility of each member of society for his own destiny and the destiny of his family. The role of the state in this model is insignificant. Funding for social programs comes primarily from private savings and private insurance. At the same time, the task of the state is to stimulate the growth of personal incomes of citizens. This model is used in the USA, England and other countries.

The formation of a liberal model, inherent in such countries as the USA, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, took place under the dominance of private property, the predominance of market relations and under the influence of a liberal work ethic. The main conditions for the functioning of this model are the minimum involvement of the state in market relations and the limited use of state regulation measures that do not go beyond the development of macroeconomic policy; in the gross domestic product (GDP), the state sector of the economy owns only a small share. Social support for citizens is carried out through developed insurance systems and with minimal intervention by the state, which is the regulator of certain guarantees. Insurance payments are usually small. Transfer payments are also insignificant, i.e. financial resources received from taxes transferred from the state budget accounts directly to various groups of the population in the form of benefits and subsidies. Financial assistance has a targeted focus and is provided only on the basis of a means test.

In the sphere of industrial relations, maximum conditions have been created for the development of entrepreneurial activity. The owners of enterprises are not limited in any way in making independent decisions regarding the development and restructuring of production, including the dismissal of employees who turned out to be unnecessary. In the most stringent form, this provision is typical for the United States, where since 1948 the law on labor agreements, or the “Wagner law”, has been in force, according to which the administration of an enterprise, in the event of a reduction or modernization of production, has the right to fire without warning or with two to three days notice, without taking into account the length of service and qualifications of employees. The destiny of trade unions is to defend the interests of workers with the longest experience in the event of the threat of mass layoffs, which, however, they do not always succeed. This model fully satisfies its main purpose in conditions of economic stability or growth, but during a recession and a forced reduction in production, accompanied by an inevitable cut in social programs, many social groups, primarily women, young people, and the elderly, find themselves in a vulnerable position.

The above three models are not found anywhere in the world in their pure form, representing the "ideal types" of the welfare state, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. In practice, one can usually observe a combination of elements of the liberal, corporate and social democratic models, with a clear predominance of the features of one of them. In Canada, for example, along with the insurance pension, there is a so-called "people's" pension. A similar pension has been introduced in Australia. In the US, there are many benefits paid outside of Social Security. There are at least 100 financial assistance programs (many of them short-term; upon expiration they are replaced by others), varying in scope, electoral criteria, sources of funding and goals. Most of them are carried out under the auspices of the five federal ministries (Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Internal Affairs), as well as the Committee on Economic Opportunity, the Veterans Administration, the Railroad Retirement Board, and the Civil Service Commission. Moreover, numerous programs operate in isolation, without constituting a balanced and organized system, as a result of which they do not cover fairly large groups of people in need of material assistance, including the unemployed who want to work, for whom a very modest amount of benefits and compensations has been established. At the same time, such programs to some extent encourage social dependency among people from the Afro-Asian and Hispanic populations: whole groups have formed that have not worked for society for almost a single day for two or three generations. Another significant drawback of these programs lies in the negative impact on family relations: they often provoke divorces, separation of parents, since the receipt of financial assistance depends on marital status.

One of them is the liberal model, which is based on an individual principle that provides for the personal responsibility of each member of society for his own destiny and the destiny of his family. The role of the state in this model is insignificant. Funding for social programs comes primarily from private savings and private insurance. At the same time, the task of the state is to stimulate the growth of personal incomes of citizens. This model is used in the USA, England and other countries.

The liberal model is based on the dominance of market mechanisms. Social help It turns out to be within the framework of certain minimum social needs, according to the residual principle, to the poor and low-income strata of the population, who are not able to earn their livelihood on their own. Thus, the state bears, albeit limited, but, nevertheless, universal responsibility for the social security of all citizens who are incapable of an effective independent economic existence. The United Kingdom and the United States are considered classical countries of the liberal model. In relation to people with disabilities, anti-discrimination measures are mainly being developed here, aimed at creating equal conditions and rights for people with disabilities with other citizens. Employers (except for government agencies acting as a “model” employer, obliged to employ people with disabilities in the first place, as well as companies receiving funds from the state budget) have no obligation to employ people with disabilities. But there is a prohibition to discriminate against people with disabilities when applying for

work and further labor relations. These legal acts prohibit employers from refusing to hire people on the basis of their prejudices and distinctive features applicants, such as gender, nationality, skin color, religious affiliation, sexual orientation and disability. This means certain procedural restrictions for the employer, for example, when conducting an interview, specific questions regarding the health of the applicant cannot be asked if similar questions are not asked to other applicants. Also, you cannot create additional requirements for a job that deliberately infringe on the opportunities of people with disabilities compared to other citizens, unless this is a necessary component of job duties (for example, having a driver's license or the ability to quickly move around the city 14

by public transport). And, of course, during the interview should be provided equal opportunity to access all materials and elements of communication with the employer (invitation of a sign language interpreter, translation of materials into Braille, etc.). In general, measures such as anti-discrimination legislation for persons with disabilities have proven to be effective. But it must be taken into account that these measures can only operate in the conditions of a developed legal and judicial system, when the relevant state, public structures and citizens have the ability to enforce laws. In case of violation of laws, it should be possible to appeal the existing disputable situations in the administrative (in specially created commissions) and judicial order. At the same time, people with disabilities can claim not only a solution to the problem that has arisen, but also significant financial payments for moral damage and lost economic benefits.

According to Esping-Anderson, the liberal welfare state ensures equal social chances for citizens (corresponding to the "positive state social protection”) and proceeds from the residual principle of financing the poor, stimulating active search them work.

The liberal model is characterized by the receipt of a minimum set of social benefits through the provision of public services or insurance schemes and is mainly focused on low-income segments of the population. Within the framework of this approach, the state uses market mechanisms and involves market entities in the provision of services, thus, in fact, providing a choice - to receive a minimum set of services, often of low quality, or to receive similar services of a higher quality, but on market conditions. In states with a liberal model, the implementation of social reforms was strongly influenced by the ideas of liberalism and Protestant traditions, and led to the adoption of the postulate that everyone has the right to at least minimally decent living conditions. In other words, in this type of state, everything is subordinated to the market, and social functions are a forced concession dictated by the need to stimulate labor motivation and ensure the reproduction of the labor force.

This model is most pronounced in the United States and, to a lesser extent, other Anglo-Saxon countries (in the UK, it is customary to talk about the liberal Beveridge model, in which citizens are provided with more guarantees and benefits (for example, free access for all to the health care system). This is partly due to cultural traditions and the role of market relations in the life of society. Indicative are the answers of Europeans and Americans to the question of whether poor people are lazy? This question is answered in the affirmative by 60% of Americans and 26% of Europeans. The distribution of responses speaks to the values ​​that underlie the social protection system in European countries and America.

The liberal model has a number of negative features. First, it contributes to the division of society into the poor and the rich: those who are forced to be content with a minimum level of state social services and those who can afford to purchase high-quality services on the market. Secondly, such a model excludes a large part of the population from the provision of public social services, which makes it unpopular and unstable in the long term (poor quality services are provided for the poor and politically marginalized groups of the population). The strengths of this model include a policy of differentiation of services depending on income, less sensitivity to demographic changes, and the ability to maintain a fairly low level of taxation.

Speaking of comparing models of social protection in different countries, it must be taken into account that researchers consider not only social and moral criteria for comparison, but also the economic indicators of countries. In particular, economic indicators are compared in the United States - a liberal model - and European countries - a conservative model. GDP per capita in the US in 2005 was $39,700, in France $32,900, and in Austria about $35,800, with an annual working time fund of 1,822 hours in the US, 1,431 hours in France, and 1,551 hours in Austria. It should also be noted that in the United States there is the biggest difference between the richest and poorest segments of the population. The share of the poor in the United States is three times higher than, for example, in Austria and is about 12% (Rifkin, 2004). At the same time, over the past few years, there has been an obvious trend towards “cutting down” the volume of social benefits provided by the state to the population. And this policy finds significant support of the population. It can be concluded that the liberal model of social protection is strengthening its foundations and becoming even more liberal. Some researchers draw attention to the fact that the policy within the liberal model, aimed at the actual exclusion from society and cutting resources for the livelihood of the poor, has a negative expression in the increase in the number of crimes committed by citizens from the poor in the United States. This caused the US prison population to rise from 380,000 in 1975 to 1,600,000 in 1995 and resulted in a significant increase in prison costs (308486). This assumption - about the relationship between the existing model of social protection in the country - and the level of crime can be tested on the basis of data from the European Crime and Security Survey.

In the wake of the economic downturn and an increase in the number of unemployed, the governments of many states inevitably faced the question of reducing the amount of relevant benefits and the volume of services provided in the field of employment. In some countries, especially those with a liberal model of social protection, it is the reduction of unemployment benefits that is the least painful and “acceptable” from the point of view of politicians and society as a whole.

As world experience shows, two main models of the state with their various modifications are now possible. The first is the so-called liberal (monetarist) model. It is based on the denial of state property and, accordingly, the absolutization of private property, which implies a sharp reduction in social function states. The liberal model is built on the principle of self-survival, the formation of an individual - independent, relying only on himself, with a certain system of moral concepts ("if you live in poverty, then you yourself are to blame").

The second model is socially oriented. It rests on the free coexistence of various forms of ownership and on the strong social function of the state. The socially oriented state assumes a whole range of national functions, for example, in the field of education, healthcare, and pensions. It is more protective of the person.

The state in the USA is closest to the first model. In Russia, this model has been persistently implemented over the past 10 years.

The second model is typical mainly for European and especially for the Scandinavian countries, as well as Israel, Canada. The same development paradigm was chosen by China, South Korea, rapidly developing countries Latin America, Arab East. Although, strictly speaking, none of these models exists anywhere in its pure form.

liberal social insecure society

2.2 Position of modern liberals

The position of modern liberals regarding the future of the welfare state is determined by the following points.

First, there can be no talk of dismantling the welfare state. Neither the very idea of ​​a traditional welfare state (real civil rights for all), nor the main way it is implemented (redistribution of income) are by no means erroneous. However, in the future it is necessary to proceed from the fact that the government should help those for whom, without such help, civil rights would be empty promises.

Secondly, it is imperative to simplify the functions of the welfare state. As you know, the main goal of such a state is to guarantee all citizens a minimum level of civilized existence. However, one should not try in every separate case to show special and at the same time insufficient care. To achieve the main goals, from the point of view of liberals, semi-automatic mechanisms and methods of financing, such as the payment of tax compensations and the maintenance of a minimum guaranteed level of income, are certainly preferable.

Thirdly, the ratio between the volume of state obligations and the size of individual tax payments should be clearly defined, which is necessary to solve the problem of financing the social programs adopted by the state. The fact is that social payments increased significantly just at the time when there was a sharp increase in real incomes, and these payments began to have a compensatory character. Many receive from the state as much as they themselves pay him, of course, minus the payment for the activities of the bureaucratic apparatus that carries out this operation. Hence the need for a deep awareness that people themselves are able to satisfy their needs. A natural question arises: where are the limits of application of this principle? The answer of the liberals: we must help the most needy and those who cannot get out of poverty without outside help. This means a simultaneous expansion of the sphere of private services.

Fourth, one of the least protected groups in the new social situation is young people, since professional education, retraining, equalization of starting opportunities require significant funds. One option to finance longer education could be a revolving loan. However, in general, methods of direct redistribution remain dominant to meet the needs of the lower strata of the population.

Fifth, it is necessary to establish new relations between public and private, as well as between central and regional (local) departments of social services. There is a tendency to replace state social institutions with municipal public and private structures as the most optimal for providing truly targeted assistance.

Sixth, the development of a network of non-state social assistance structures depends not only on certain financial support, but also on political choice. However, it should not be expected that the provision of services on voluntary will easily fill the space left by the state. This is prevented not only by the scale of the needs, but also by the fact that people are not easily lured into the idea of ​​creating charitable institutions and charity funds with the aim of simply replacing public institutions. At the same time, the scope of voluntary services can bring significant benefits if their provision takes place against the backdrop of a transition from state to decentralized management.

Conclusion

Which of the two models is better? It is impossible to answer unambiguously. The liberal model has its merits. On the one hand, it creates strong personality capable of withstanding life's challenges. On the other hand, this model is ruthless: a beggar, for example, is here declared a victim of his own laziness and immorality. Any model is no better or worse than another. They are just different. The question is to what extent one or another version of the model is adequate to a particular society, its history, traditions, and mentality.

Of the two models - liberal and socially oriented - for Russia, in our opinion, the second is more suitable. This model of development is advocated by the main political movements, business circles, and the majority of the country's population.

However, the second model should also be flexible enough, taking into account the uniqueness of the various regions, national-autonomous formations of Russia. It is inadmissible from Moscow to dictate seemingly progressive reforms for each region without taking into account national characteristics and types of culture.

Three groups of social states can be distinguished.

The first includes the so-called liberal social states, where the implementation of social reforms took place under the strong influence of the ideas of liberalism.

Considering it fundamentally impossible to achieve modern society social justice, liberals recognize the need for some concern for the poorest segments of the population.

In accordance with the liberal doctrine, the social security system, which somewhat smooths out social inequality, should not undermine the labor motivation of citizens, and create conditions for the profitable conduct of business by entrepreneurs. In other words, the amount of allowances and benefits for the poor should encourage them to work to improve their well-being.

In liberal welfare states, redistribution is based on two interrelated principles. Firstly, it is impossible to concentrate in one hands such instruments of power (economic or political) that would infringe upon the civil rights of a person. Secondly, everyone has the right to at least minimally decent living conditions. In other words, there are upper and lower boundaries of civilized existence. These boundaries delineate the space of guaranteed rights for all. And although, at first glance, this postulate is theoretical in nature, purely practical conclusions follow from it (for the tax system, social security, healthcare, education, assistance to the unemployed, etc.), which actually determines the essence of the welfare state.

Characteristic features of the liberal model: means testing, limited universal transfers, social insurance programs. Benefits are paid only to people with low incomes. The right to social security is limited strict rules, the benefits themselves are usually quite modest. This model is implemented, in particular, in the USA, Canada and Australia.

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Answer 4 (beginning) The liberal model operates in countries such as the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK. Historically, this model was formed under the influence of a liberal work ethic in the conditions of the predominance of market relations. The liberal model also considers the market as the most important sphere for the organization of human interaction, but differs from the conservative one in at least two respects. First, social security of the residual type is provided, i.e. people, as a rule, should be able to exist in society without social security. Second, the government currently has a limited, yet universal, responsibility for the welfare of all citizens. Accordingly, social security is associated with large investments, thus leading to small returns. Due to the residual nature of funding, the implementation of the model depends on the availability of a large amount of voluntary and informal assistance.

Thus, the liberal model characterizes the least intervention of the state in market relations. In this model, citizens satisfy their needs through insurance coverage. The state does not interfere in this process until there is a special need for this, and only with limited measures and limited time. Helping the individual requires a mandatory means test. The government provides little transfers and there is a social insurance system with low benefits.

Countries with a liberal model support private philanthropy through generous tax cuts for a donor with similar intentions. Workers retain the right to negotiate collectively through representative organizations (trade unions) regarding the consequences of management decisions and defending the interests of workers.

Social insurance in the United States is much younger than continental and began with the Social Security Act of 1935. The impetus for its appearance was the dramatic situation during the global economic crisis of 1929-1933, when millions of people lost their jobs and did not receive unemployment benefits. the federal law 1935 established two types of social insurance: old-age pensions and unemployment benefits. In 1948, the United States passed the Labor Relations Act (the Wagner Act). Thus, the administration of an enterprise in the event of a reduction in production or its modernization can dismiss an employee without warning or with a minimum notice period of 2-3 days. This does not take into account either the length of service or the qualifications of the employee.

Over time, the law was overgrown with additions and amendments, introducing new forms of insurance and expanding the circle of insured: pensions in case of loss of a breadwinner, Medicaid health insurance, etc. There were levels at which they acted certain types insurance: for example, disability insurance as a result of an industrial injury or illness operated at the state level, taking into account their specifics.

Today in the United States there are a number of categories of employees who are not covered by social insurance. These are agricultural workers, day laborers, employees of enterprises with less than 50 people. 35 million people do not have health insurance at all. Given that the retirement age is the same - 65 years with a full pension of 35 years, many do not have a full pension.

The most characteristic features of the model:

Minimal state intervention in market relations;

· Restriction of the sphere of state regulation by conducting macroeconomic policy;

A small amount of the state budget in GDP. Answer 4 (end)

State social assistance, financed not from the budget, but from prepaid insurance contributions, began to develop in the United States in parallel with insurance and has now reached its peak. The impetus for its development was given by President D. Kennedy, and then by the youth movement of "Greening America" ​​(C. Reich's term). There is only one criterion for receiving social assistance - low income, poverty. The exact number of social assistance programs in the United States is difficult to establish, as they include federal, state, state, and municipal. It is estimated that there are about 8,000 of them. It is characteristic that the criteria for need vary from state to state, and the benefits for any program do not reach the living wage. But anyone in need can get help under several programs at once: public housing plus food stamps plus Medicare medical care, etc. This allows taking into account the needs of different customer groups with sufficient completeness and flexibility, but leads to numerous abuses by customers and errors. social workers in the payment of benefits. To a certain extent, “plays into the hands” of unscrupulous applicants and the lack of a residence permit in the United States, which allows you to receive assistance in several states at the same time. Thus, the New York authorities recently organized the work of a whole detachment of detectives who will check the living conditions of clients and the correctness of paperwork, and identify illegal income. The maintenance of detectives will cost the city treasury 50 million dollars. per year, but their work will save about 250 million dollars in the city budget.

One of the models of the welfare state is the liberal model, which is based on the principle that personal responsibility of each member of society for their own destiny and the fate of his family. The role of the state in this model is insignificant. Funding for social programs comes primarily from private savings and private insurance. At the same time, the task of the state is to stimulate the growth of personal incomes of citizens.

The liberal model is based on dominance of market mechanisms. Social help It turns out, based on the minimum social needs, to the poor and low-income sections of the population who are not able to independently obtain a means of subsistence. Financial assistance is provided only on the basis of a means test. Thus, the state bears, albeit limited, but nevertheless universal responsibility for the social security of all citizens who are incapable of an effective independent economic existence.

In relation to people with disabilities, they mainly develop anti-discrimination measures aimed at creating equal conditions and rights for disabled people with other citizens.

Also, you can not create additional requirements for a job that deliberately infringe on the opportunities of people with disabilities, unless this is a necessary component of job duties (for example, having a driver's license or the ability to quickly move around the city using public transport).

In general, such measures, such as anti-discrimination legislation for persons with disabilities, have proven effective. But it must be taken into account that these measures can operate only in the conditions of a developed legal and judicial system.

In the field of industrial relations created maximum conditions for the development of entrepreneurial activity. The owners of enterprises are not limited in any way in making independent decisions regarding the development and restructuring of production, including the dismissal of employees who turned out to be unnecessary. The destiny of trade unions is to defend the interests of workers with the greatest experience in the event of the threat of mass layoffs, which, however, they do not always succeed.

This model is quite effective in conditions of economic stability or growth, but in a recession and a forced reduction in production, accompanied by the inevitable cuts in social programs, many social groups, especially women, youth, and the elderly, find themselves in a vulnerable position.

Like the other two models (corporate and social democratic), liberal is nowhere to be found in its pure form. In the US, there are many benefits paid outside of Social Security. There are at least 100 financial assistance programs (many of them short-term; upon expiration they are replaced by others), varying in scope, electoral criteria, sources of funding and goals. Moreover, numerous programs operate in isolation, without constituting a balanced and organized system, as a result of which they do not cover fairly large groups of people in need of material assistance, including the unemployed who want to work, for whom a very modest amount of benefits and compensations has been established. However, such programs are to some extent encourage social dependency among Afro-Asian and Hispanic people: there were whole groups that practically did not work for society for a day for two or three generations. Another significant drawback of these programs lies in the negative impact on family relations: they often provoke divorces, separation of parents, since the receipt of financial assistance depends on marital status.

The liberal model has a number of negative features.

First, it promotes division of society into rich and poor those who are forced to be content with a minimum level of state social services and those who can afford to purchase high quality services on the market.

Secondly, such a model excludes a large part of the population from the provision of public social services which makes it unpopular and unsustainable in the long run (poor quality services are provided to poor and politically marginalized groups). The strengths of this model include a policy of differentiation of services depending on income, less sensitivity to demographic changes, and the ability to maintain a fairly low level of taxation.

At the same time, over the past few years, there has been an obvious trend towards “cutting down” the volume of social benefits provided by the state to the population. And this policy finds significant support of the population. It can be concluded that the liberal model of social protection is strengthening its foundations and becoming even more liberal. Some researchers draw attention to the fact that the policy within the framework of the liberal model, aimed at the actual exclusion from society and the reduction of resources for the livelihood of the poor, has a negative expression in increase in the number of crimes in the United States committed by citizens from the poor, because others can do what they want. and no obligations to you, including moral and ethical ones.