Welfare in Barrayar
Welfare in the Empire of Barrayar includes several very differentiated social protection systems whose aim is to protect people against the financial consequences of social risks (illness, maternity, old age, unemployment)., due to the fact that there are several social and economic models. While on Sergyar and on the Southern Continent of Barrayar, as well as in the vast majority of the Northern Districts, there is a complex and near-universal social protection complex, in some of the Northern Districts and on Komarr the welfare State is quite reduced. However, even where the public intervention is fairly reduced, there are several protection system privately funding: charities, union funds, for-profit insurances and company welfare systems.
Social welfare refers to all the mechanisms of collective foresight, enabling individuals to cope with the material consequences of "social risks". These are situations that could jeopardize the economic security of the individual or his family, causing a decline in its resources or increase its expenditure. In the Empire of Barrayar, the welfare system make up for about 25% of GDP.
Despite the autonomy margins of the Northern Districts and of the Viceroyalties, the overall supervision and direct management is entrusted to the
Southern Continent
The Southern Continent is the large individual social security system. The Barrayaran State welfare has some elements of universal protection, mostly deriving from the need to be ready to face market failures and mostly originating in 2960s, the system is centred on the insurance for workers and on solidarity funding. The social security administrations provides basic coverage of eight kind of events that jeopardize the paid work or that may worsen the worker's situation: unemployment, illness, maternity, disability, death, accidents, old age and family. Each of these eight situations correspond to a branch. The system is differently regulated according the professional sector:
- Employees and Students Sector: it includes most employees, students, recipients of certain benefits and ordinary residents;
- Imperial Public Service Sector;
- Agriculture Sector: it assures the welfare of farmers and agricultural workers.
- Autonomous Workers Sector: they cover separate artisans, merchants, industrials and liberal professions for old age only (the risk of "disease" is treated in the Employees and Students Sector)
Welfare administrations are managed by the Ministry of Social Security, but are supervised also by the social parts, such as employers' representatives and trade unions.
Illness protection
The illness insurance covers the cost of general medicine and special care and dentures, most of pharmaceutical expenses and equipment, analysis and laboratory tests; hospitalization and treatment heavy care facilities, rehabilitation, prenuptial examination vaccinations, public-operated test programs; permanent accommodation and treatment of children or adolescents with disabilities. In case of sickness, health insurance provides daily allowances to the insured who is in physical disability and unable to continue or resume work. The daily allowance depends on the daily earning and on the number of dependent children. Health insurance also manages maternity (expenses for examinations and daily allowance during maternity leave) and disability pensions. The practitioner must be duly authorized to exercise, and medicines have to be included on the list of reimbursable drugs and products.
In principle, the insured is not required to pay anything but mandatory medical tests held in private structures: if these tests are ordered in order to treat an illness, the insured person pays only a fixed quota (called "Medical Ticket") and the rest of tariff is paid by the illness insurance directly to the practitioner; low-prices drugs are reimbursed (or deduced from the taxes), while special pharmaceutical products are subject to the same method of a private test: the insured person has to pay a fixed quota of the drugs price.
Health insurance operate on the basis of tariffs set by the Ministry of Social Security. The Universal Health Protection System (also known as UHP System) provides a free health insurance coverage also for the most disadvantaged. The UHP system is included in the management of care by health insurance.
Accidents at work protection
The Work accidents protection includes accidents at work, work travel accidents and professional diseases. Medical care and vocational rehabilitation are totally taken in charge by the social security. In case of permanent reduction of working capacity, the victim is entitled a capital, and an annuity. In case of the death of the insured, the beneficiaries (spouse, children and dependent descendants) receive a pension.
Local government
Lowest local government authorities are entrusted to organize and provide the social services (including family support) and the assistance to the poorest and to those otherwise excluded by the mainstream social security. Social assistance includes welfare benefits defined by law or by local regulations, and is therefore provided when conditions are met. The central government provides financial allowances for disabled people, while Arrondissements and Municipalities provide the actual assistance.
Resources
Workers' contributions are the primary source of founding, and they are integrated by broader fiscal measures. Social security contributions are mandatory payments made by the self-employed and employees and their employers, in order to get rights to social benefits. Technically these mandatory contributions are not counted within taxes: the distinction between taxes and contributions is justified by the fact that contributions provide for direct benefits, while taxes are part of a solidarity system.
The "assigned taxes" are fiscal resources allocated to the financing of social benefits. The main tax is the Social Tax, established in order to to fund health assistance family benefits and the Retirement Fund. It is payable by all residents on the Southern Continent, except those who are not members of compulsory medical insurance system.
Northern Continent
On Northern Continent, i.e. in traditional Districts ruled and governed by Counts, the social security assets is quite varied. On one hand, the Northern Continent is a region of ancient industrialization, with significant density of organized industrial workers; on the other hand, some of the Districts have in the low overall taxation (and therefore in the weak welfare state) their strong point in the attraction policies. From a general point of view, there is a clear leaning towards the great welfare state model: the "Imperial" model, i.e. the model of the Southern Continent, is derived from 2950s policies of Vorbarra and Vorkosigan Districts, and other Districts (such as the Vordarian District) have a long-standing tradition in public workers insurances.
Out of 60 Districts, about two thirds follow the Southern Continent model; the social security administrations of these Districts are autonomous, but co-operate with the Ministry of Social Security in order to define the framework which District social policies are set in and are supported by the Ministry for administrative purposes; further, a District which desires to fully adopt the "Southern" social policies may request to be included within the social security system of the Southern Continent: so far, however, no Northern District has requested to be integrated within the "Southern System".