The portion of Social Security related to the payment of retirement and survivor benefits to those who have, through their life-time employment, paid into the system is the entitlement portion of the Social Security system. Social Security provides benefits paid by taxes to the elderly and disabled who have worked. On the other hand, programs such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid and Medicare must be considered as social welfare programs. Arguably, all the benefits paid to Vincent during the course of his lifetime must be considered valid entitlements as are those paid to Peppy based on her own earnings. All other benefits paid to Vincent's family members can legitimately considered to be social welfare benefits.
3.
There is no denying that the policy of the Social Security providing benefits to divorced spouses is based on good intentions it is not reflective...
Due to the long standing reality that most women outlive men and that most members of society marry more than once, the Social Security's policies on this issue increase significantly the costs of administering the Social Security system. The payment of retirement and survivor benefits to divorces spouses overlooks the fact that such individuals are no longer dependent on the Social Security recipient for support and ordinarily not in the position to expect inherit anything from the recipient's estate. The Social Security system by adopting such a policy is providing divorced spouses with entitlements that exceed what they should entitled to and with insurance that should have terminated at the moment that the parties became divorced. Once the relationship giving rise to…
