Statistical Terms Glossary

Are current transfers received by households intended to provide for the needs that arise from certain events or circumstances, for example, sickness, unemployment, retirement, housing, education or family circumstances. There are two kinds of social benefits: social insurance benefits and social assistance benefits.

Are current transfers received by households intended to provide for the needs that arise from certain events or circumstances, for example, sickness, unemployment, retirement, housing, education or family circumstances.

Social benefits in kind consist of (a) social security benefits, reimbursements, (b) other social security benefits in kind, (c) social assistance benefits in kind; in other words they are equal to social transfers in kind excluding transfers of individual non-market goods and services.

Social benefits other than social transfers in kind consist of all social benefits except social transfers in kind.

In other words, they consist of:

(a) all social benefits in cash - both social insurance and social assistance benefits - provided by government units, including social security funds, and NPISHs; and

(b) all social insurance benefits provided under private funded and unfunded social insurance schemes, whether in cash or in kind.

The OECD defines Social Capital as “networks together with shared norms, values and understandings that facilitate cooperation within or among groups”.

Refers to variables that, while not usually the direct target of policy, are crucial for understanding the context within which social policy is developed.

Social contributions are actual or imputed payments to social insurance schemes to make provision for social insurance benefits to be paid. They may be made by employers on behalf of their employees or by employees, self-employed or non-employed persons on their own behalf.

Social contributions are actual or imputed payments to social insurance schemes to make provision for social insurance benefits to be paid.

Social contributions by self-employed and non- employed persons are social contributions payable for their own benefit by persons who are not employees - i.e. self-employed persons (employers or own-account workers), or non-employed persons.

Social dialogue includes all types of negotiation, consultation or simply exchange of information between, or among, representatives of governments, employers and workers, on issues of common interest relating to economic and social policy.

Project to protect the poorest people during periods of adjustment.

Facility created by the World Bank, UNDP and the African Development Bank and supported by the Government of Norway, it seeks to help participating governments integrate social dimensions in the design of their adjustment programs.

The condition (barriers and process) that impede social inclusion. Social exclusion is a process through which individuals or groups are wholly or partially excluded from fully participating in all aspects of life of the society, in which they live, on the grounds of their social identities, such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture or language, and/or physical, economic, social disadvantages.

Is the provision by public (and private) institutions of benefits to, and financial contributions targeted at, households and individuals in order to provide support during circumstances which adversely affect their welfare, provided that the provision of the benefits and financial contributions constitutes neither a direct payment for a particular good or service nor an individual contract or transfer.

Is defined as a body of rules, supported by one or more institutions, governing the provision of social expenditure benefits for a particular contingency.

A business set up to create employment for persons with disabilities or those who are otherwise disadvantaged in the labour market.

A social fund is an organization which channels resources into mostly small-scale projects for eligible poor and vulnerable groups. It covers various programmes designed to play both a distributive role to reduce the impact of poverty, and a risk reduction role, to protect individuals, households and communities against unexpected and uninsured income and consumption risks.

Is one where the policy-holder is obliged or encouraged to insure by the intervention of a third party.

Policy designed to ensure that all people are able to participate in society regardless of their background or specific characteristics, which may include: race, language, culture, gender, disability, social status, age, and other factors.

Quality of life is the notion of human welfare (well-being) measured by social indicators rather than by “quantitative” measures of income and production.

To qualify as social insurance benefits, the transfers must be provided under organized social insurance schemes. Social insurance benefits may be provided under general social security schemes, under private funded social insurance schemes or by unfunded schemes managed by employers for the benefit of their existing or former employees without involving third parties in the form of insurance enterprises or pension funds.

Social insurance benefits are transfers provided under organised social insurance schemes; social insurance benefits may be provided under general social security schemes, under private funded social insurance schemes or by unfunded schemes managed by employers for the benefit of their existing or former employees without involving third parties in the form of insurance enterprises or pension funds.

Social insurance schemes are schemes in which social contributions are paid by employees or others, or by employers on behalf of their employees, in order to secure entitlement to social insurance benefits, in the current or subsequent periods, for the employees or other contributors, their dependants or survivors.
They may be organized privately or by government units. Social insurance benefits may be provided in cash or in kind. They become payable when certain events occur, or certain circumstances exist that may adversely affect the welfare of the households concerned either by imposing additional demands on their resources or reducing their incomes. The contingencies covered are liable to vary from scheme to scheme. However, the identification of certain receivables as social insurance benefits depends not just on the contingencies covered but also the way in which coverage is provided.

Social insurance schemes are schemes in which social contributions are paid by employees or others, or by employers on behalf of their employees, in order to secure entitlement to social insurance benefits, in the current or subsequent periods, for the employees or other contributors, their dependants or survivors.

The social internal rate of return refers to the costs and benefits to society of investment in education, which includes the opportunity cost of having people not participating in the production of output and the full cost of the provision of education rather than only the cost borne by the individual. The social benefit includes the increased productivity associated with the investment in education and a host of possible non-economic benefits, such as lower crime, better health, more social cohesion and more informed and effective citizens.

A social network is a social structure made of individuals (or organizations) called "nodes," which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.

Social protection includes public social security schemes as well as private or non-statutory schemes with a similar objective, such as mutual benefit societies and occupational pension schemes. Social protection includes all sorts of non-statutory schemes, formal and informal, provided that, if the scheme is contributory, contributions are not wholly determined by market forces. These schemes may feature for example group solidarity, or an employer subsidy, or perhaps a government subsidy.