Understanding Bismarck’s legacy: The role of work history in Belgian social security law

Abstract

This article examines the role that work history plays in income replacement social security benefits in Belgium. The central premise is that, due to the Bismarckian origins of Belgian social security, work history is a concept that is structurally at the core of this system. However, the fact that this element is, from a legal perspective, considered to be self-evident and a prerequisite for the functioning of social security, should not preclude us from exploring its contingent nature. The article argues that the way in which work history is expressed in the laws governing different social security benefits can sometimes create or perpetuate a certain state of affairs, based on an underlying value judgement. In this sense, work history supersedes the mere technical or neutral character that can be attributed to it, and in fact functions as an implicit or explicit policy tool to help model social security in a particular way