Reflections on the polysemy and relativity of contributivity in social security law
Lola ISIDRO
The concept of contributivity (« contributivité ») is of central importance in the field of social security but has been little studied in the legal field. An analysis of references to the concept and its usage in social security law – domestic, European, international – reveals the polysemy and relativity of the concept of productivity. Domestically, a restrictive interpretation often emerges, leading to overly trenchant distinctions such as between insurance and solidarity, or between contributivity and universality. An examination of European and international law shows a more flexible approach, a source of some tensions with French law.
Keywords: contributivity, insurance, welfare, solidarity, universality, contribution, participation.
Historical and economic perspectives on contributivity
Pierre CONCIALDI
The concept of contributivity (« contributivité ») raises two major issues as to the distribution, respectively, of contributions and of the spending financed by them. On the basis of historical perspectives, the first part of the article illustrates the ways in which these two normative issues have been tackled, by underlining the drastic change seen in France at the turn of the 1980s. The second part of the article shows that the analyses driven by insurance microeconomics since the 1990s – and the concept of contributivity associated therewith – tend towards a redefinition of the objectives of social security and, at the same time, the establishment of a new norm of « rationality » in the link between contributions and benefits. In the process, the contributory principle has contributed to a destabilisation of existing social security mechanisms.
Keywords: contributivity, social security, pensions, contributions, spending.
The three dimensions of contributivity in contemporary social security programmes
Elvire GUILLAUD and Michaël ZEMMOUR
The concept of contributivity (« contributivité ») is central to thinking around social security, but its meaning and definition vary depending on context. After a reasoned inventory of various uses of the term contributivity in the field of public policy and in the economic literature, we suggest a positive and graduated definition of the contributivity of social insurance, which may refer to: i) the allocation of receipts; ii) the registration of insured individuals and iii) benefits considered to be « contributive » (benefits replacing employment income, reserved for registered employees and financed by allocated funds). Economically speaking, the sums are not typically proportional to the contributions paid, but the amount of the entitlements does rise with salary income and therefore in line with the contributions paid.
Keywords: contributivity, social security, contributions, benefits.
The issue of contributivity in unemployment benefits
Jacques FREYSSINET
The issue of contributivity (« contributivité ») is not central to the history of unemployment benefits. The main debates have centred around other issues and other concepts. However, at times, certain actors or experts have deployed the language of contributivity to justify reform proposals, sometimes in the name of equity, sometimes in the name of efficiency. It is interesting to see where and how contributivity is invoked. The debate touches on the respective contributions of employees, employers and the state. It also touches on the relationship between the length and rate of contribution on the one hand and the level of eligibility for benefits on the other hand. It also has to do with drawing a boundary between contribution-based and non-contribution-based benefits. The ambiguity arising from the polysemy of the concept should not cause one to ignore the reality of the conflicts arising wherever it is invoked.
Keywords: contributivity, unemployment, insurance, contribution, benefit.
The plurality of usage of contributivity in relation to pensions from union, employer and administrative bodies (1970s-1990s)
Ilias NAJI
The concept of contributivity (« contributivité ») is often used to describe a boundary between contribution-based and non-contribution-based benefits. It is possible to track changes in the pensions system through this concept and its usage by various parties. Having offered a historical perspective of pensions and of contributivity, this article presents the usage of the term by unions (CGT, CFDT and CFE-CGC), employer bodies (CNPF) and administrations (the ministry for social affairs and budgetary management) from the 1970s through to the 1990s. From this examination a plurality of usage arises, varying from one time to another, of the concept of contributivity, by organisations involved in pensions management and reform, which may be explained in light of their dissenting stances and strategies.
Keywords: contributivity, pensions, pension reform, unions, employers, administration.
Family welfare benefits and their financing up to the 1940s: the construction of a unique social security system
Antoine MATH
By reviewing the history of the implementation of family welfare benefits, we are able to reexamine its origins in salaried employment and consider its construction as a social security benefit, or its contributory aspects. This digression shows that it is not incoherent to finance family welfare benefits through contributions. A system built on professional solidarity may explicitly aim for universalisation beyond those in work. The development of the benefits system has allowed a greater and greater proportion of workers’ resources to be disconnected from the discretionary power of the employer, particularly since the 1940s. This « second salary » and the social contributions are widely accepted, not in spite of the breaking of the link between being in employment and being entitled, but indeed because the entitlement rapidly spread beyond the contributors.
Keywords: contributivity, family welfare benefits, family policy, social security, financing, contribution, salary, history.
The evolution of family policy since 1950 revisited through the role played by its financing
Antoine MATH
The evolution of the family welfare benefits system since 1950 is re-examined through the role played by its financing, and in particular the importance of dynamic receipts allocated to an independent budget generating accounting surpluses. Three large periods may be distinguished by the way in which surpluses in the family branch of the social security system have been used or averted. Up until the middle of the 1970s, the resulting margins were used above all to reduce rates of contributions allocated to the family branch, to the benefit of other social security programmes. Thereafter, and up to 2014, that branch was guaranteed resources keeping pace, remarkably, with growth, including after the substitution of part of the contributions with tax receipts from the early 1990s. The period beginning in 2014 marks a change with, for the first time in four decades, a dramatic decoupling of receipts from GDP and, concomitantly, an unprecedented drop in spending.
Keywords: contributivity, family welfare benefits, family policy, family branch of social security, financing, funding, contribution.