Finance Guide

Social security is the name given to an economic support service provided by some governments to their citizens who are experiencing financial adversity of various types. Other countries provide similar services under different names. Typically, a social security system makes regular payments to citizens who meet the qualifying criteria for assistance. In order to meet the criteria, the citizens usually have to be suffering economic distress of some sort, such as that arising from unemployment, persistent illness or old age. Some social security systems involve all citizens making mandatory contributions to a social security fund maintained by the government. In this case, social security could be regarded as a mandatory form of insurance. Not all forms of financial assistance available under social security require payments to have been made in advance.

Since assistance provided under social security is provided only to those who meet certain criteria, there must obviously be some validation process to confirm that the citizens applying do, in fact, meet the criteria required. This validation may be done at the time assistance is applied for and recurrently while it is being received. If a claim for financial assistance is found to be fraudulent, the assistance will, of course, be terminated and the person involved may well be subject to prosecution.

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