- 93 -
Income
contributions from participants contributions from employers
state participation
participation of other public authorities income from capital
transfers from other schemes
other income
total income
Expenditure
-
cash benefits
benefits in kind (medical care)
administration
transfers to other schemes
-
other expenditure
total expenditure
Where a social security institution administers a number of benefit branches, a separate income and expenditure account may be presented in respect of each benefit branch, especially where the branches are financially autonomous. In other cases, only consolidated accounts may be prepared, but an analysis of benefit
expenditure by branch and type of benefit will usually be available. It should also be noted that under some schemes, allocations to reserves appear as an expenditure item whereas under others they figure in the utilisation of the surplus. Except for contribution income, there are usually no break-downs provided by characteristics such as branch of economic activity, geographical region, etc.
on
The main items figuring in balance sheets of social security institutions are:
on the liabilities side, the various reserves which have been constituted; the assets side, the various investments which have been made with the accumulated funds. Again, no break-downs of these items are provided by economic or other characteristics.
The financial data available from the social security accounts can be combined with data on participants or beneficiaries or total population to compute various "per capita" figures which could provide indicators of the level of social security protection. Secondly these data may
be compared against national financial aggregates such as the GNP in order to assess the economic incidence of social security. These data can also provide an indication of the contribution of social security to national savings and capital formation and may also enable the study of redistribution of income. It must also be recognised that the social security financial data as such form an important component of the national income and expenditure, and are thus useful in the preparation of national income estimates.
ILO activities in the field of social security statistics
A wide range of activities has been going on under ILO initiative, not only to standardise and improve the quality and quantity of social security statistics, but also to promote the wider use of these statistics.
In connection with standard setting, a resolution was adopted by the International Labour Conference at its Philadelphia Session (1944) on the development of social security statistics. The problem was discussed at the Seventh (1949), Eighth (1954) and Ninth (1957) International Conferences of Labour Statisticians. Resolution No. II concerning the development of social security statistics, adopted by the Ninth International Conference of Labour Statisticians, emphasised the need for the development of social security statistics at the national level.
No. VI adopted by the same Conference requested the Governing Body of the ILO "to instruct the Office to develop, as far as possible, a common body of statistical concepts, definitions and classifications which might be brought into general use and a standard framework for presentation of the data in order to
facilitate comparisons between countries and to formulate recommendations for the promotion of improved methods in the field of social security statistics",
Resolution
E-1195-2E:5