Social security : an analysis of abuses in contributory and non-contributory benefits

Abstract

During the course of this century, especially right after the end of the second World War, most Western countries, including Malta have witnessed a drastic change in the role of the government. Most governments became involved in various aspects of the life of their citizens. Governments have taken the responsibility for the welfare of those individuals who are unable to provide for themselves. In earlier times this task was shouldered by family members. Each family had to care for its aged, disabled and widowed. Those hapless souls without a family were forced to live on pitifully small doles amid miserable conditions. The extended family in those days served as a unit of education and of social service provision. Industrialisation changed all that. The traditional family was fragmented into separate generations. Consequently, family size fell, inter-generational ties were scaled down and separate social institutions, particularly the Welfare State, were introduced to take over the protection of the poor and vulnerable members of the society. Their main objective was to ensure that such people would have an acceptable standard of living [...]