Work Accident and Sickness Benefits

Abstract

This entry traces past and present trends in the institutional development of income transfers in the case of work accident and sickness. The focus is mainly on OECD or European countries, but in some instances, references are made to a wider array of countries or continents. The entry begins with a review of the history of work accident insurance; in most countries, this was the first social insurance programme to be created. The history of this early programme highlights a number of factors behind the development of later programmes. The latter part of the entry focuses on sickness insurance. Again, we begin with historical developments, focusing in particular on the universalism and generosity of benefits. We then move on to discuss the extent to which sickness benefits have, in recent years, been targets for retrenchment. The final section tentatively discusses future trajectories of these two income maintenance programmes.