The Earliest History of the Evolution of Social States in the Nineteenth Century Europe

Abstract

University ABSTRACT Until the second half (or even the last few decades) of the nineteenth century states tended to play only a minimal role in social security. By the mid-nineteenth century, some Western European countries developed the first prototypes of the modern pension system. The real history of modern social security dates back to the laws adopted in Germany in the 1880s. In this paper we consider in more detail the examples of the early development of social legislation in the two pioneer countries, Germany and the UK. The late nineteenth – early twentieth centuries witnessed the birth of the modern social state, as the states started creating social security systems for their populations. Currently Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states the