[shard]

Same in the US. On my paycheck there are Social Security tax, Medicare tax, State disability insurance tax, State unemployment insurance tax. If it is a mandatory deduction taken out of your paycheck to fund a government project (not the best word, but can't think of the proper word at the moment), even if you get benefits later, it's called a tax.

[bgorman]

The US Government tries the same trick.

Social Security is a called an "insurance program" although it is completely unrelated to conventional insurance. The closest financial instrument is a Ponzi scheme, which is illegal under US law.

[jbn]

It is insurance in the sense that it pools the risk. The risk here is "aging" ("Social Security" in the US only covers base retirement, whereas "Social Security" in France covers 5 risks), it only happens to be a risk that realizes 100% of the time, unlike fire insurance for instance.