Social security is a system of legal, economic and organizational measures created by the state, which are aimed at compensating or minimizing the consequences of a change in the material and (or) social status of citizens, and in cases provided for by the legislation of the country, other categories of individuals due to the occurrence of circumstances recognized by the state socially. significant (insurance risks). The orientation of the Republic of Belarus towards building a socially oriented legal democratic state that takes care of low-income citizens and their families makes social security relations very relevant. The textbook is written in accordance with the curriculum of the course "Social Security System" for students of the specialty "Social Management". The author sought to logically, concisely, concentratedly and clearly present the entire set of knowledge required by the curriculum. The paper provides formulations of the main theoretical concepts, discusses the main elements of the social security system. Social security performs economic, political, industrial, rehabilitation, demographic, protective functions. Accordingly, the content of these functions is disclosed in this manual. In the manual, a lot of attention is paid to the legal aspects of social security, since the right to a specific type of security arises only when circumstances established by law occur.