Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that can help answer the question.
Query: What is the British equivalent of Social Security?
The National Insurance number is a number used in the United Kingdom in the administration of the National Insurance or social security system. It is also used for some purposes in the UK tax system. The number is described by the United Kingdom government as a "personal account number".[1]
In 2004 Nobel Laureate economist Paul Krugman, deriding what he called "the hype about a Social Security crisis", wrote:
Railroad workers were covered by the Railroad Retirement Board before Social Security was founded. Today, they still are, though a portion of each railroad pension is designated as "equivalent" to Social Security. Railroad workers also participate in Medicare.
The scheme is administered by the Social Security Board of the British Virgin Islands. The Deputy Director with responsibility for the scheme is Mr Roy Barry. The primary legislation relating to the scheme was implemented by amendments to the Social Security Act (Cap 266), and the subsidiary implementing legislation is the Social Security (National Health Insurance) Regulations, 2015.
NCPSSM promotes tax increases as a way to address what it describes as modest long-term issues with Social Security's solvency. The organization opposes Social Security privatization and supports prescription drug benefits in Medicare. Through its political action committee, the organization donates money to support Democratic candidates and to oppose Republican candidates.
Following the end of the Japanese Occupation in 1945, the British sought to regain political control over Singapore, what was a vital strategic centre to them. The British Military Administration was set up, focusing on the reorientation of the state in order to meet post-war crisis. The British set sights to bolster social and economic life, and to secure their footing in Singapore (Harper, 2001). Of the social programmes that the government laid out, the most far-reaching and critical was education. The British envisioned setting up "national schools", prioritizing English-medium education and undermining vernacular education. With that, Chinese schools were starved of funding, resulting in anger and resentments among the Chinese students and teachers. This led to the rise in anti-colonial sentiments.
Most state and local government workers were eventually brought into the Social Security system under "Section 218 Agreements". The original 218 interstate instrumentalities were signed in the 1950s, and all states have a Section 218 agreement with the federal government's Social Security Administration.
The Social Security Handbook defines an "interstate instrumentality".
The provisions of Section 218 of the Social Security Act and the instrumentalities agreement and subsequent modifications determine Social Security and Medicare benefits or Medicare-only coverage for state and local government employees enrolled in state and local government retirement systems.
All state and local government employees hired since 1986, or whom are covered by Section 218 Agreements, participate in Medicare even if not covered by Social Security financial benefits. To see how state and local government employees are covered by Social Security and Medicare see the Federal-State reference guide appendix.
Other local and state employees were brought into coverage under a 1991 Social Security law that required these employees to join Social Security if their employer did not provide them with a pension plan.
Some state and local governments continue to maintain pension plans and have not executed Section 218 agreements; if so, those workers may not participate in Social Security taxation. (If workers have previously paid appropriate Social Security taxation or an equivalent, their Social Security benefits are reduced by a rule known as the Windfall Elimination Provision; there is also a similar Government Pension Offset for their spouses.)
The claims of the probability of future difficulty with the current Social Security system are largely based on the annual analysis made of the system and its prospects and reported by the governors of the Social Security system. While such analysis can never be 100% accurate, it can at least be made using different probable future scenarios and be based on rational assumptions and reach rational conclusions, with the conclusions being no better (in terms of predicting the future) than the assumptions on which the predictions are based. With these predictions in hand, it is possible to make at least some prediction of what the future retirement security of Americans who will rely on Social Security might be. It is worth noting that James Roosevelt, former associate commissioner for Retirement Policy for the Social Security Administration, claims that the "crisis" is more a myth than a fact.
Critics of Social Security claim that it gives a low rate of return, compared to what is obtained through private retirement accounts. For example, critics point out that under the Social Security laws as they existed at that time, several thousand employees of Galveston County, Texas were allowed to opt out of the Social Security program in the early 1980s, and have their money placed in a private retirement plan instead. While employees who earned $50,000 per year would have collected $1,302 per month in Social Security benefits, the private plan paid them $6,843 per month. While employees who earned $20,000 per year would have collected $775 per month in Social Security benefits, the private plan paid them $2,740 per month, at interest rates prevailing in 1996. While some advocates of privatization of Social Security point to the Galveston pension plan as a model for Social Security reform, critics point to a GAO report to the House Ways and Means Committee, which indicates that, for low and middle income employees, particularly those with shorter work histories, the outcome may be less favorable.
The number of U.S. workers per retiree was 5.1 in 1960; this declined to 3.0 in 2009 and is projected to decline to 2.1 by 2030. The number of Social Security program recipients is expected to increase from 44 million in 2010 to 73 million in 2030. The present value of unfunded obligations under Social Security as of August 2010 was approximately $5.4 trillion. In other words, this amount would have to be set aside today such that the principal and interest would cover the shortfall over the next 75 years. The Social Security Administration projects that an increase in payroll taxes equivalent to 1.9% of the payroll tax base or 0.7% of GDP would be necessary to put the Social Security program in fiscal balance for the next 75 years. Over an infinite time horizon, these shortfalls average 3.4% of the payroll tax base and 1.2% of GDP.
The "Social Security Trust Fund" comprises two separate funds that hold federal government debt obligations related to what are traditionally thought of as Social Security benefits. The larger of these funds is the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund, which holds in trust special interest-bearing federal government securities bought with surplus OASI payroll tax revenues. The second, smaller fund is the Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund, which holds in trust more of the special interest-bearing federal government securities, bought with surplus DI payroll tax revenues.
Bonds are debt securities, tradeable on a bond market. A country's regulatory structure determines what qualifies as a security. For example, in North America, each security is uniquely identified by a CUSIP for trading and settlement purposes. In contrast, loans are not securities and do not have CUSIPs (or the equivalent). Loans may be sold or acquired in certain circumstances, as when a bank syndicates a loan.
The British Virgin Islands operates a mandatory social security scheme. In practice because of the large number of migrant workers who leave the Territory before claiming benefits, the scheme is heavily over funded. Social security benefits include maternity, occupational injury, sickness and survivor's benefits. The Social Security Board (SSB) also has the ability to make "ex gratia" payments in case of need for uninsured persons requiring serious medical care.
Kreps wrote a report in 1976 called "Social Security in the Coming Decade:
Questions for a Mature System". The report examined Social Security as a whole and its feasibility. The report began with a quote that Kreps herself agreed with in regard to Social Security policies: "There is really no way to support retired Americans comfortably and affordably." The conclusion of the report found that increased interest in where Social Security is going by the general public is what will keep retirement benefits alive. The people must stay invested in knowing where funding for Social Security is coming from and staying vigilant of the amount of new people reaching retirement eligibility each year to ensure a working system.
NatCen is best known for its annual British Social Attitudes Survey, founded by the organisation in 1983. The British Social Attitudes survey is Britain's longest-running annual survey of public attitudes. It uses a random probability method and face to face interviews with more than 3,000 people to ensure that it achieves a sample that is representative of Britain. NatCen's sister organisation, the Scottish Centre for Social Research (ScotCen), carries out an equivalent of the survey in Scotland, called the Scottish Social Attitudes survey.
The self-employment tax in the United States is typically set at 15.30%, which is roughly the equivalent of the combined contributions of the employee and employer under the FICA tax. The rate consists of two parts: 12.4% for social security and 2.9% for Medicare. The social security portion of the self-employment tax only applies to the first $110,100 of income for the 2012 tax year. There is no limit to the amount that is taxable under the 2.9% Medicare portion of the self-employment tax.
Homeland Security is often thought of as a specifically United States term referring to the role of the United States' reformed national security infrastructure beginning in 2003. However, neither the term nor the concept of Homeland Security are specific to the United States. Though terminology varies, an equivalent might be seen in Israel's Ministry of Public Security. Within Homeland Security as an academic field, Homeland Security is sometimes studied in a comparative context by scholars of comparative politics or criminal justice. For example, the British political scientist Paul Wilkinson edited and contributed to a textbook on Homeland Security policy and practice from a British perspective. The scholar Nadav Morag looks at a global perspective on homeland security management and strategies in the book "Comparative Homeland Security: Global Lessons".
Also of concern was the long-term prospect for Social Security because of demographic considerations. Of particular concern was the issue of what would happen when people born during the post–World War II baby boom retired. The NCSSR made several recommendations for addressing the issue. Under the 1983 amendments to Social Security, a previously enacted increase in the payroll tax rate was accelerated, additional employees were added to the system, the full-benefit retirement age was slowly increased, and up to one-half of the value of the Social Security benefit was made potentially taxable income.
In 2018, the Social Security Wage Base was $128,400 and the Social Security tax rate was 6.20% paid by the employee and 6.20% paid by the employer.[1] A person with $10,000 of gross income had $620.00 withheld as Social Security tax from his check and the employer sent an additional $620.00. A person with $130,000 of gross income in 2017 incurred Social Security tax of $7,886.40 (resulting in an effective rate of approximately 6.07% - the rate was lower because the income was more than the 2017 "wage base", see below), with $7,886.40 paid by the employer. A person who earned a million dollars in wages paid the same $7,886.40 in Social Security tax (resulting in an effective rate of approximately 0.79%), with equivalent employer matching. In the cases of the $130k and $1m earners, each paid the same amount into the social security system, and both will take the same out of the social security system.
As of December 31, 2009, the total asset under management of the National Council for Social Security Fund (SSF) stood at RMB 776.5bn, among which RMB692.7bn are NSSF equity capital. Among different asset categories, fixed income took up 40.67%, domestic stocks 25.91%, global stocks 6.54%, equity assets 20.54%, cash equivalents 6.34%.
, several versions of Form 1099 are used, depending on the nature of the income transaction:The Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, is used to report wages paid to employees and the taxes withheld from them. Employers must complete a Form W-2 for each employee to whom they pay a salary, wage, or other compensation as part of the employment relationship. An employer must mail out the Form W-2 to employees on or before January 31. This deadline gives these taxpayers about 3 months to prepare their returns before the April 15 income tax due date. The form is also used to report FICA taxes to the Social Security Administration. The Form W-2, along with Form W-3, generally must be filed by the employer with the Social Security Administration by the end of February. Relevant amounts on Form W-2 are reported by the Social Security Administration to the Internal Revenue Service. In territories, the W-2 is issued with a two letter code indicating which territory, such as W-2GU for Guam. If corrections are made, it can be done on a W-2c. The British-Irish equivalent form to a W-2 is a P60.
In February 2003 the rival organization AARP stated that "recently, the U.S. Social Security Administration ordered one of them to halt what it determined to be misleading mailings." USANext was eventually fined $554,000 for two such mailings, violating a 1988 amendment to the Social Security Act in 1988 prohibiting the private use of the phrase "Social Security" and several related terms in any way that would convey a false impression of approval from the Social Security Administration. The constitutionality of this law (42 U.S.C. § 1140) was upheld in "United Seniors Association, Inc. v. Social Security Administration", ___ F.3d ___ (4th Cir. 2005) (text at Findlaw). On May 30, 2006, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal.
President Barack Obama opposed privatization (i.e., diverting payroll taxes or equivalent savings to private accounts) or raising the retirement age, but supported raising the annual maximum amount of compensation that is subject to the Social Security payroll tax ($118,500 in 2016) to help fund the program. In addition, on February 18, 2010, President Obama issued an executive order mandating the creation of the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which made ten specific recommendations to ensure the sustainability of Social Security.
The "Private Employer Verification Act" (S.B. 251) was signed into law on 31 March 2010. It requires all private employers who employ more than 15 or more employees as of 1 July 2010, to use a "status verification system" to verify the employment eligibility of new employees, though it does not mandate use of E-Verify. As an alternative to E-Verify, businesses can use any other federal program the state deems equivalent to E-Verify, including "the Social Security Number Verification Service or similar online verification process implemented by the United States Social Security Administration." (Note: However, the E-Verify is considered to be more reliable than the mere verification through a Social Security Administration database that the social security number, name of employee, and date of birth all match.) The law exempts employers of aliens on H-2A (temporary agricultural) and H-2B (temporary, non-agricultural) visas. An official at the Social Security Administration told the Center for Immigration Studies that the program is not sufficient for determining immigration status.
The recommendations given became the basis of what was to be incorporated in the Social Security Act.