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How does Social Security work in other countries?
The United States is not alone when it comes to having a Social Security program to protect it’s senior citizens from poverty in their old age. Most developed countries have such a program, and those foreign programs are sometimes touted as better than ours. Perhaps a more accurate description is that they’re different than ours, not necessarily better. But in this Forbes article by Liz Bauer, the author – who is a long-time vocal advocate of changing America’s Social Security program from an earned benefit system to a social benefit program – explains how the Social Security programs in several other countries (The Netherlands, Ireland and Australia) work, concluding with an opinion that the current U.S. program should be completely reformed, presumably to look more like the foreign systems discussed. One very interesting feature of these foreign programs is that none provide for early benefits, as does the U.S. program. Without comment on the practicality of the author’s concluding opinion, you can locate Ms. Bauer’s commentary by clicking here to read the Forbes article.