Importance of Social Security

The concept of social Security is very comprehensive and it is difficult to estimate a precise definition, within the framework of the large number of changes that have involved its birth and development from the late nineteenth century to the present.

For the International Labor Organization, the social Security It is “the protection that society provides its members, through a series of public measures, against economic and social deprivations which, otherwise, would cause the disappearance or a strong reduction of income due to illness, maternity, work accident, or occupational disease, unemployment, disability, old age and death; and also protection in the form of medical care and help for families with children” (document 1991 original).

Therefore, it is of great importance to note that social security addresses the offer made (fundamentally by the State) to individuals in terms of certain basic needs, among which stand out the protection and promotion of health, the fight against material poverty, the adequate

prevention and the care of the elderly, the rehabilitation of the disabled, the facilitation of access to housing, active surveillance of families in different risk situations, insurance against unemployment and the training of policies that stimulate jobs, among others.

In different nations, the participation of the State in social security reach different sizes. Thus, in some contexts it is the sole provider of these factors, while in other countries the activity is shared with non-governmental organizations and even with foundations or entities private. It cannot be forgotten that, especially in the most underprivileged or most at risk groups, many religious institutions assume the role of social security with high efficiency.

In the context of the global financial crisis, the importance of social security It is perceived that there is a greater need to provide protection to new risk groups, such as the numerous young unemployed. Likewise, the emergence of new diseases, the return of conditions that were under control (malaria, tuberculosis, cholera, to name the most recognized) and the greater diffusion of the “new epidemics” (diabetes, obesity, neurodegenerative diseases) has motivated the appearance of programs to apply the beginning of social security without excluding any of the potential beneficiaries who could thus improve their quality of life.