Social security provides a safety net for the employed. Talking Social Security is a new weekly column that will look at social security issues, such as what social security is, how pensions are calculated and what current pension levels are and why?
Social security schemes exist in many countries the world over. The concept is similar in all of them, though such schemes frequently provide more social protection in economically well-developed countries than they do in poorer countries.

In Zimbabwe there are currently two social security schemes, namely the national pension scheme and the Workers' Compensation Fund. These funds provide a degree of financial protection for pensioners and those injured at work respectively.

Social security is primarily a social insurance programme providing financial protection against the economic effects of socially recognised conditions such as poverty, old age, disability and unemployment.
Actuaries define social insurance as a government-sponsored insurance programme that is defined by statute, serves a defined population and is funded through premiums or taxes paid by or on behalf of participants.

Participation is either compulsory or subsidised heavily enough to ensure that most eligible individuals choose to participate. In most cases contributions come from both employees and employers.
Social security schemes are but one element of social protection. The concept of social protection embraces all interventions from public and private bodies intended to relieve households and individuals of the burden of a defined set of risks, such as sickness, maternity, employment injury, unemployment, invalidity, old age, death and provision of health and child support.

Social protection refers to a set of benefits available from the state, market, civil society and households or a combination of these to an individual or household to reduce multi-dimensional deprivation.
In Zimbabwe social protection is provided by the national pension scheme and Workers' Compensation Fund, both of which are administered by the National Social Security Authority, and by private occupational pension funds and insurance policies. A degree of social protection is also provided by families themselves and by an individual's savings or investments.

While not everyone enjoys all these forms of protection, every person in formal employment, other than in domestic service, is entitled to the benefits prescribed in the National Pension Fund and Workers' Compensation Fund schemes, provided the stipulated contributions have been paid.

Social security schemes are designed to benefit those who are in employment and their dependents, by providing a degree of protection against the effects of loss of income or ill health.
They are not social assistance programmes but programmes that provide contributions-based benefits, according to a pre-determined formula, to those who qualify for those benefits.

The major difference between social security and social assistance is that social security benefits are contributions related. Social assistance is provided by the state - in Zimbabwe by the Department of Social Welfare within the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare - to those who are in need and not covered adequately by social security or any other type of social protection.

Social security is most easily applicable in countries where large numbers of citizens depend on the formal economy for their livelihood, as it is in that context that contributions can most easily be assessed and collected.

In countries where there is a widespread informal economy, formal social security arrangements are generally almost non-existent for the majority of the working population.
For the two social security schemes already operating in Zimbabwe, those who qualify for benefits are employee contributors to the pension scheme who retire, the dependants of such contributors in the event of the contributor dying before retirement. It is also for those who are injured at work and suffer loss of income as a result.

Everyone who is in formal employment should be eligible for national pension benefits, as contributions to the pension scheme are compulsory in terms of Zimbabwean law.
However, there are companies that are failing to pay contributions to the scheme, which means their employees and their families will be unable to be paid pensions or benefits in the event of their retirement or death.

Although there are only two social security schemes in Zimbabwe at present, other schemes, such as a national health scheme and maternity benefit scheme, are planned for the future.

• The National Social Security Authority will publish the Talking Social Security Column each week as a public service. Readers who have any questions they would like dealt with in this column are welcome to e-mail their questions to mail@mhpr.co.zw