In its operationalization the term excludes healthcare
Kwong-leung Tang & James Midgley 8, Tang is an Associate Professor in the College of Arts, Social and Health Sciences at the University of Northern British Columbia, Canada; Midgley is Harry and Riva Specht Professor and dean emeritus of the School of Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley, “The Origins and Features of Social Security,” Social Security, the Economy and Development, edited by James Midgley and Kwong-leung Tang, Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2008, pp. 17–50 Springer Link, doi:10.1057/9780230582194_2
Social security has also been defined with reference to different types of programmes and the different functions and goals of these programmes. This ‘operational’ approach to defining social security is less concerned with sociological or legal notions than with the actual income, health and other social service programmes provided by governments. Although social security programmes provide income, health and other social services, the term will be operationalized in this book to refer to income programmes and specifically to programmes that provide for the maintenance of income when specific contingencies arise or otherwise supplement the incomes of those who experience particular needs or demands on their incomes. The twin functions of income maintenance and income support are thus central to most operational definitions of social security. Typically, income maintenance and support is provided through the four major types of social security described in the introduction to this book, namely, social insurance, provident or savings funds, social assistance, employer mandates and social allowances.