Social Security

The East Asian tigers have a long history of social security provision, ranging from traditional poverty relief to modern social insurance and provident funds. However, it was the 1997 Asian financial crisis that made social security reform more central to welfare reform across the region. In the wake of the crisis, the tigers have sought not only to take necessary measures of economic reform, but also to strengthen the social safety net. In Singapore, the provident fund approach, comprising compulsory individual savings with contributions from employees and employers, is favoured. In Hong Kong, a tax-funded, means-tested social assistance scheme introduced in the 1970s was supplemented by a provident fund in 2000. South Korea and Taiwan have chosen to rely on social insurance and social assistance schemes as the two key pillars of social security. The contrasting approaches illustrate the diversified nature of welfare systems in the four tigers. This chapter begins by exploring the development of social security in the four societies, and then analyses their contemporary systems in terms of regulation, provision and funding. It ends by making an overall assessment.