The covered worker can expect, because he has made social security contributions out of his earnings during his working lifetime, that social security benefits will be paid in the spirit of an earned right, without undue restnctions and in a manner which safeguards his freedom of action and his privacy. In social insurance the decision on how to finance improvements is always an integral part of the decision on whether they are to be made. Because of these characteristics of social insurance the Council believes that where it can be properly applied it is much to be preferred to the method of public assistance, with its test of individual need, and the Council therefore strongly favors the improvement of social insurance as a way of reducing the need for assistance. The Council recognizes the need for an adequate public assistance program, but it believes that assistance should play the role of a secondary and supplemental program designed to meet special needs and circumstances which cannot be dealt with satisfactorily by other means. No matter how well designed and administered, assistance has serious inherent disadvantages in terms of human dignity and incentives to work and save.
People view receipt of assistance as meaning a loss of self-support.
In contrast, they view social insurance as an extension of self-support. People who have led productive lives and have supported themselves through their own efforts do not want to see their self-reliance end with their ability to work. Moreover, applying for assistance is at best a negative experience. Eligibility for assistance depends upon the individual's asking the community for help and proving that he is without the resources and income to support himself and his family. On the other hand, under social insurance the individual proves, not that he lacks something, but that he has worked and contributed, and has thus earned a right to a benefit.