ABSTRACT
The nature of the social security scheme depends a great deal on the character of the national economy in which it operates. One of the main reasons for the government's difficulties in implementing all its pre-election pledges on social security is the failure of the economy to grow at the rate it was envisaged in the National Plan. A growing economy is necessary to provide the wealth to meet the cost of social security as well as of the other government services. It is not only as a financier that the nature of the economy is important to social security. Though the arguments of the neo-liberal economists apply to all social services we shall restrict the authors's discussion here on social security. Also, those who consider vertical redistribution of income as one of the aims of state social security would 'like to see the lower paid getting somewhat more than their money's worth and the better paid somewhat less'.
