Social insurance programs have continuously provided income and health insurance for senior citizens. While social insurance programs may seem ineffective as they cannot have drastic differences in individuals’ lives and cannot provide luxurious lifestyles, they have a significant effect on resisting increases in poverty and inequality rates. According to Greenberg and Page (2018), social security was initially developed to serve as an addition to workplace pensions, even though a substantial number of retirees rely entirely on social security payments. Furthermore, while payroll taxes may seem unfair, the continuous flow of funding provides an outlook on a stable future with a low level of poverty in the country. On the other hand, Medicare’s initial goal was to provide health care to senior citizens who have no funds for treatment to eliminate the obstacles to affordable medicine and have impressive results. Therefore, while social insurance programs may seem ineffective, exploring their initial purpose shows that they effectively fulfill their functions with limited resources.
Social Insurance programs are closely connected with socioeconomic and political forces. For example, the first social security program in the form of pensions was offered to Civil war veterans, and the Great Depression caused a rise of questions on measures to increase economic security for the elderly. Socioeconomic and political forces can also affect social insurance programs as political and economic determine the longevity of social security programs. Social insurance involves the moral component of governmental administration and therefore depends on the government’s core values. The politics determine the working conditions, retirement age, and payroll tax rates in favor of prevailing economic conditions. Therefore, negative trends in the economy or governmental shifts that include changes in the administration’s core values can negatively influence social insurance programs.