National insurance is a state program in the United Kingdom that provides financial support for families whose earnings are interrupted. Payments may be made under this program for such reasons as unemployment, sickness, maternity leave, widowhood, disability, or retirement. The money to pay for the benefits comes from regular contributions paid by all wage earners and employers. Employees have their national insurance contributions removed from their wages by their employers. Self-employed people make direct contributions. The national insurance program was introduced in the United Kingdom in 1911.
In the United Kingdom, except for Northern Ireland, the Department for Work and Pensions runs the program. The Department for Work and Pensions controls several hundred local offices. In addition to wage earners, self-employed and nonworking people with annual incomes above a specified level also pay contributions. Part of each contribution goes toward an industrial injuries program, which helps people who have sustained accidental injuries or have contracted diseases as a result of their work. In addition to contributions, the insurance funds receive income from interest on investments.
In Northern Ireland, national insurance is run by the Department for Social Development, and the system is similar to that in the rest of the United Kingdom.
