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Social protection is a potent policy tool to protect people from poverty throughout the life cycle. It can also reduce inequality and social exclusion. However, as the Report on the World Social Situation 2018 (United Nations, forthcoming) makes clear, access to social protection varies significantly depending on a p...
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This can limit its potential to promote inclusion. In 2015, young people aged 15 to 24 years accounted for 1.2 billion, or 16 per cent, of the world’s population (United Nations, 2017). Creating a social and economic environment that enables these young people to thrive in adulthood—including through pathways to dece...
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Unfortunately, the specific needs of young people are rarely the focus of social protection systems, even though failing to invest in youth can have long-term implications for society. Risks and disadvantages faced by young people The transition to adulthood can be a time of enormous opportunities—but also risks. You...
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And even if they do find a job, young people are overrepresented in so-called vulnerable employment, often in the informal sector. Youth unemployment and under-employment have a high cost for society, in terms of lost human and productive potential and decreased fiscal revenues. They also undermine trust in the polit...
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Young people are often targeted by political movements that channel their desire for change and the lack of other options for civic engagement into civil disobedience and violence. Finally, young people face risks as they make other important decisions about leaving home and school, accessing skills training or furthe...
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Gaps in social protection coverage for young people Although few social protection schemes formally exclude youth, most of the programmes available to young people require contributory payments. Because of their age and their high participation in informal employment, young people have shorter formal work histories th...
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In Latin America and the Caribbean, for instance, only 55 per cent of young people in formal employment were effectively covered under a health-care scheme in 2013, compared with 71 per cent of wage-earners aged 25 years and above (ECLAC, 2015). In OECD countries, on average, eligibility for unemployment benefits requ...
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In fact, only 20 out of 201 countries provide unemployment benefits for first-time job seekers (ILO, 2014). In principle, young people may have access to tax-financed (non-contributory) schemes where available, including unemployment assistance and minimum income benefits or health care.
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However, while most high-income countries provide tax-financed universal health-care coverage for a core set of services, health coverage is much less common in low-income countries, leaving many young people without access to comprehensive health care. In addition, cash transfer programmes for children and families o...
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The role of social protection in addressing the challenges faced by young people To ensure income security and promote the inclusion of young people, social protection should cover them and provide sufficient benefits in case of unemployment, Promoting the inclusion of young people through social protection Social Deve...
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It should also address the needs of young workers under non-standard contracts or in the informal sector. Extending unemployment benefits to first-time job seekers can help improve the income security of young people. In recent years, several high-income countries including Austria, Portugal and Slovenia have extende...
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Voluntary unemployment insurance schemes, for instance, may benefit young people disproportionately, given their high rate of participation in the informal economy and in jobs under non-standard contracts. Universal access to affordable and high-quality health care—including sexual and reproductive health care—is vita...
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Some countries in developing regions, such as China, Colombia, Rwanda and Thailand, are strengthening tax-financed or mixed health- care systems to extend coverage (ILO, 2017b). While necessary, social protection alone is insufficient to achieve the social inclusion of young people. Improving the availability and qua...
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Measures to help young people stay in school, as well as the continued expansion of free education and housing support services are also important for the social inclusion of young people. Young people have also benefited from social protection closely linked to supportive sexual and reproductive health policies, incl...
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Social protection is most effective in tackling the multiple disadvantages faced by particularly vulnerable young people, such as the homeless and those in public care, when implemented in tandem with social services. Finally, improving the access of young people to social protection will require more and better data ...
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The Social Development Brief series is issued by the Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD), of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). This brief was written by Jonathan Perry under the supervision of Wenyan Yang. Contact perry@un.org for more information. The views expressed...
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The Executive Summary of the Report on the World Social Situation 2018 is currently available at: https:// www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/report-on-the-world-social- situation-rwss-social-policy-and-development-division.html References International Labour Organization (2014). World Social Protection Report 2014/15:...
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__________ (2017a). Global Employment Trends for Youth 2017: Paths to a Better Working Future. Geneva: International Labour Office. __________ (2017b). World Social Protection Report 2017– 19: Universal Social Protection to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Geneva: International Labour Office. United Nat...
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Available at https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/ (accessed 18 July 2017). United Nations (2018). Promoting Inclusion through Social Protection. Report on the World Social Situation 2018. Sales No. E.17.IV.2. United Nation s Econo mic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (2015). Inclusive Social Development: T...
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Thematic brief on social protection 0 Thematic Brief Social Protection The views and opinions expressed in this thematic brief are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and policies of the United Nations. The designations and terminology employed may not conform to United Nations practice an...
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This thematic brief was prepared by Christina Behrendt, Mira Bierbaum and Valérie Schmitt (all ILO). The authors are thankful for comments provided by Shahra Razavi (ILO), Alejandro Grinspun, Mari Kangasniemi, Liz Koechlein, Ana Ocampo, Claudia Patrone and Rodrigo Rivera (all FAO), Martijn Kind and Marta Roig (UNDESA)...
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 BACKGROUND 1 2 DEFINITION OF SOCIAL PROTECTION 1 3 SOCIAL PROTECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS 2 4 CURRENT STATE OF SOCIAL PROTECTION 3 5 THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL PROTECTION: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES 6 CHANGING WORLD OF WORK 6 JUST TRANSITION 7 RURAL AND INFORMAL ECONOMIES ...
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These figures reflect widespread human suffering as workers and their families excluded from social and health protection cannot access health care when needed, and lack basic income security, in cases such as unemployment or other shocks to livelihoods, sickness, maternity, disability or old-age, as has been painfully...
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Their realization is key for the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda (Agenda 2030), notably SDG targets 1.3 and 3.8, aiming for universal social protection systems, including floors, and universal health coverage. The ILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation and other international social securit...
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By strengthening people’s capacities and supporting them in navigating life and work transitions (among others through health protection, child benefits, maternity and parental benefits, unemployment protection, or old-age pensions), social protection contributes to inclusive growth, social cohesion and social justice....
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The COVID-19 pandemic has served as a wake-up call alerting the global community to the urgency of accelerating progress in building social protection systems, including floors. Policymakers in developing countries should seek to the extent possible to design emergency crisis responses with a longer-term perspective i...
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This thematic brief outlines the “logic” of social protection, sketches the current state, and summarises key challenges and opportunities in a globalized world that is characterised by technological innovations, urbanization, interconnectedness of our societies and economies, international migration and climate change...
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It thereby provides additional information on how social protection advances Agenda 2030 beyond the eradication of extreme poverty and material deprivation, and contributes to making growth more inclusive and fairer. 2 Definition of social protection Social protection refers to the set of policies and programs aimed a...
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Social protection can be provided in cash or in-kind, through non-contributory schemes providing universal, categorical, or poverty-targeted benefits (such as social assistance), Thematic brief on social protection 2 contributory schemes with social insurance being the most common form, and by building human capital, p...
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1 This basic definition emphasises that there is no one-size-fits-all model to build national social protection systems, including floors, as the focus is on the outcomes rather than the means. Depending on the national context and preferences, the most effective and efficient combination of benefits and schemes varie...
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However, recognising that social protection is a human right, a rights-based approach calls for the development of national legal frameworks and the extension of legal and effective coverage to all. 3 Social protection in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals Target 1.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals ...
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The reference to “floors” establishes the link to the Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202) (ILO 2012).
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202) (ILO 2012). According to the Recommendation, as the “ground floor” of national social protection systems, a social protection floor should comprise at least four basic social security guarantees: (1) access to essential health care; (2) basic income security for children; (3) basic income security for persons of ...
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Progress towards achieving SDG target 1.3 is measured by the proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women and newborns, work- injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable (indicator 1...
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It supports the realization of other SDGs, in particular the goals on health (target 3.8), gender equality (target 5.4), decent work and economic growth (target 8.5), reduced inequalities (target 10.4), as well as peace, justice and strong institutions (target 16.6). There are multiple channels through which social pr...
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Higher income security stabilizes consumption and aggregate demand, allows people to take riskier decisions in establishing businesses or pursuing income-generating and productive activities, and facilitates job search that appropriately matches individual skills.
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Together with effective access to health care, this enables individuals to develop and preserve their human capital; it promotes productive employment and entrepreneurship and supports crisis response and recovery (as in the case of COVID-19) and structural changes in the economy, for instance a just transition to a ca...
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In the longer run, better access to food and better nutritional status as well as higher school attendance will further contribute to a more productive and employable workforce that is able to navigate their lives also in uncertain times.
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This includes both transitions at the individual level, for instance related to work 1 This definition was established within the framework of the Inter-Agency Social Protection Assessment (ISPA) tools development; an initiative of the Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board (SPIAC-B) that brings together repr...
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Thematic brief on social protection 3 trajectories, as well as transformations at the societal level, for instance the transition to greener economies, digitalisation, or demographic changes (ILO 2017b). Finally, social protection plays an important role in a forward-looking agenda that is not only concerned with achi...
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Reducing inequality is necessarily a matter of redistribution, risk sharing and solidarity across the entire society – not only vertical redistribution from rich to poor people, but also horizontal redistribution between healthy and sick people, between families with children and those without, women and men, workers a...
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4 Current state of social protection Over the past 100 years, the number of social protection schemes anchored in national legislation has risen, covering nearly all policy areas (see Figure 1). However, in some cases these schemes only cover a minority of the population. Furthermore, the extension of legal coverage ...
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Figure 1: Development of social protection programmes anchored in national legislation by policy area, pre-1900 to 2020 (in per cent of countries) Notes: The following areas are taken into consideration: health care, sickness benefits, unemployment benefits, old- age benefits, employment injury benefits, family/child b...
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102). Sources: ILO, World Social Protection Database; ISSA/SSA, Social Security Programs Throughout the World.
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Link: https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/RessourceDownload.action?ressource.ressourceId=54617 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Pre - 1900 1905 1910 1915 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 Post - 2010 % of countries with social security schemes anchored in natio...
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Only 45 per cent of the population has access to at least one social protection benefit. This means that 55 per cent of the population, or four billion people, are not covered at all (SDG indicator 1.3.1). Coverage gaps vary systematically across world regions, between and within countries, and for different populati...
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There are also important disparities between countries belonging to the same geographical region. Figure 3 illustrates that there is indeed a positive correlation between a country’s level of economic development and coverage rates. Nonetheless, it is also clear that there are huge differences in coverage rates for c...
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Figure 2: Effective social protection coverage with at least one social protection benefit, global and regional estimates by area and population group (percentage), most recent year available Notes: See World Social Protection Report 2017-2019 (ILO 2017b, 169). Sources: ILO, Word Social Protection Database, based on S...
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Link: https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/RessourceDownload.action?ressource.ressourceId=54796 45.2 34.9 41.1 27.8 21.8 67.9 24.7 17.8 15.9 15.8 not available 5.6 29.6 9.5 67.6 66.2 68.6 72.9 16.7 86.2 38.7 38.9 not available 33.4 9.4 22.5 55.2 16.4 84.1 87.5 81.4 86.7 42.5 95.2 66.7 0 20 40 60 80 100 Population cov...
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For example, health coverage is substantially lower for rural populations, with 56 per cent of the population excluded compared to 22 per cent of the urban population (ILO 2017b). Thanks to the significant extension of social pensions, nearly seven out of ten older persons have access to social protection. Yet, only ...
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Closing gender gaps and extending coverage to workers in the informal and rural economy, migrant workers, and self-employed workers to ensure adequate social protection for workers in all types of employment, including work mediated by digital platforms, deserves increased attention (FAO and ILO forthcoming; ILO 2016; ...
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Figure 3: GDP per capita (PPP, constant 2011 international $), 2015, and effective social protection coverage with at least one social protection benefit according to SDG 1.3 (percentage) Notes: SDG indicator 1.3.1: Population covered by at least one social protection benefit (effective coverage): Proportion of the pop...
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Data available for 71 countries. R2=0.668. Sources: ILO, Word Social Protection Database, based on SSI; ILOSTAT; national sources and World Development Indicators (World Bank 2019). Finally, in order to protect individuals and households from poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion, social protection benefit lev...
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For instance, despite increasing coverage rates of older persons, in many countries the level of non-contributory pensions remains below the national poverty line. Coverage and adequacy gaps are linked with insufficient investments in social protection. Taking already into account the effects of COVID-19, nearly US$1...
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2020). Low-income countries represent US$77.9 billion of this total financing gap, equivalent to 15.9 per cent of their GDP (Table 1). 2 The following categories of social protection benefits were included in the costing: benefits for children, maternity and disability benefits, old-age benefits and health benefits.
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0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 Effective social protection coverage (SDG target 1.3.1) GDP per capita, PPP (constant 2011 international $), 2015 Thematic brief on social protection 6 Table 1.
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Annual financing gap in achieving SDG targets 1.3 and 3.8, by income classification, 2020 (billions of US$ and percentage of GDP) Financing gaps Per cent of GDP Low-income countries 77.9 15.9 Lower-middle income countries 362.9 5.1 Upper-middle income countries 750.8 3.1 All low and middle income countries 1,191.6 3.8 ...
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(2020). 5 The future of social protection: Challenges and opportunities Profound societal transformations are underway, creating new challenges for the comprehensive, adequate and sustainable social protection of all individuals throughout their lives. In 2019, the Global Commission on the Future of Work (2019) consi...
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The 2020 World Social Report (United Nations 2020) highlighted technological changes, urbanization, migration and climate change as four “megatrends” that are closely linked to perpetuating and even exacerbating existing inequalities (UNDP 2019; ILO 2017b). These reports highlight the important role of social protecti...
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The COVID-19 pandemic further highlights the need for social protection to provide immediate responses to the crisis and accelerate a just recovery.
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Against this background, this section discusses challenges and opportunities for the extension of social protection related to a changing world of work, rural/urban divides, international migration, just transition and the importance of building robust social protection systems that can protect individuals, households,...
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Changing world of work Discussions on the future of work have spurred debates about closing coverage and adequacy gaps for workers, particularly those in temporary employment, part-time and on-call work, temporary agency work or self-employment and work mediated by digital platforms (cf. ILO 2016). Women, young peopl...
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Higher levels of insecurity make strong and responsive social protection systems more important than ever, based on the principles of solidarity and risk sharing, which provide support to meet people’s needs over the life cycle and help them navigate life and work transitions (ILO 2016a; 2018a).
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The Global Commission on the Future of Work (2019) made a strong case for universal access to comprehensive and adequate social protection systems, including a social protection floor that guarantees at least a basic Thematic brief on social protection 7 level of protection to all those in need, complemented by contrib...
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The Commission also cautioned that individual savings can only be a voluntary option to top up stable, equitable and adequate mandatory social insurance benefits. Research has also shown how the limited potential for risk sharing, redistribution and consumption smoothing exacerbates inequalities (Alfers, Lund, and Mou...
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Recent policy innovations in different parts of the world demonstrate that social protection systems have a remarkable potential to adapt to changing realities and needs, for example by developing effective mechanisms that facilitate labour market transitions and ensure portability of rights and entitlements or alterna...
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Thus, the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work (2019) calls for universal, comprehensive, adequate and sustainable social protection systems adapted to the world of work, as a key element of human-centred policies for the future of Work. Just transition The transition to greener economies carries many oppo...
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Recent estimates suggest that achieving sustainability in the energy sector and embracing the circular economy could create 24 million jobs (ILO 2018c). Furthermore, counteracting environmental degradation protects vulnerable populations and low-income countries that are typically disproportionally affected. At the s...
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It is estimated that approximately six million jobs will get lost (ILO 2018c). Social protection systems support these structural transformations in several ways and thereby ensure that societies share the challenges and opportunities of these transitions more equally.
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Unemployment benefits help to smooth consumption in case of loss of livelihoods, as well as to take time to reskill and to find jobs that match their capabilities (Global Commission on the Future of Work 2019; ILO 2018c; Kangasniemi, Knowles, and Karfakis 2020). Rural and informal economies Nearly half of the world’s ...
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Approximately 27 per cent of people in employment work in the agricultural sector, which amounts to nearly 900 million people around the globe in 2019 (ILO 2020a). In developing countries, agriculture accounts for approximately 60 per cent of total employment; nearly half of these workers are women (ILO 2020a).
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Employment in the informal economy remains pervasive, with more than 60 per cent of the world’s employed population being in informal employment, and even more than 90 per cent of those employed in agriculture (ILO 2018b). Many of these workers and their families are among the 55 per cent of the global population who ...
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Extending social protection to rural workers is particularly urgent as rural areas are characterised by higher levels of poverty as well as higher exposure to risks throughout the lifecycle and due to the increasing frequency of extreme weather events. Thematic brief on social protection 8 Barriers to social protectio...
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Major bottlenecks that prevent access to social protection arise for instance from exclusion from legal coverage, low and volatile earnings and limited contributory capacity due to seasonality, remoteness of the work and living place, high labour mobility, as well as complex administrative procedures (Allieu and Ocampo...
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Measures to extend social protection to rural and informal economy workers take into account these factors and, for instance, adapt benefits, the determination and collection of contributions or administrative procedures accordingly as to facilitate the transition of workers and enterprises from the informal to the for...
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Migration The facilitation of orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people is one of the targets (10.7) of SDG 10 to reduce inequality.
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For migrants in destination countries, access to social protection is hampered by multiple factors, including lack of coordination between receiving and sending countries, non-portability of acquired social protection rights and benefits, non-equal treatment between nationals and migrants, and finally the fact that mig...
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The extent to which migration contributes to reducing inequalities in countries of origin, transit and destination is still debated and dependent on characteristics of the migrant and the sending and receiving countries (United Nations 2020).
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However, ensuring access to social protection for migrant workers and their families levels the economic playing field between national and migrant workers and supports fair labour migration, as pointed out by the Resolution concerning fair and effective labour migration governance (ILO 2017a). In addition, ensuring u...
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Lessons learned from COVID-19 The COVID-19 crisis is a turning point. It has revealed once again the devastating consequences of systemic shocks for societies and economies, especially in the absence of universal and adequate social protection.
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The role of social protection has therefore been confirmed as an indispensable mechanism for delivering support to individuals during the COVID-19 crisis by providing access to health care and protecting against the massive losses of jobs and income resulting from the deepest economic downturn since the Second World Wa...
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Many developing countries have introduced temporary social protection measures in response to the crisis in order to facilitate access to health care, protect jobs and mitigate income loss.
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However, recovery will only be sustained and future crises mitigated if countries are able to progressively build on or transform such temporary relief measures into comprehensive and shock-responsive social protection systems, including social protection floors, in line with human rights and international social secur...
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This will also require increasing and sustaining fiscal space for social protection, as well as political will (ILO 2020). The policy response to the 2008 global financial crisis is a case in point, as many countries, after an initial but short-lived period of fiscal expansion, adopted austerity measures and approxima...
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2015). Under- investment in social protection systems, including public health care, meant that many countries were ill- prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important that the right lessons are learnt, and countries do not adopt fiscal consolidation measures as they emerge from the current crisis.
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Designing inclusive social protection systems In order to be fully inclusive, social protection systems need to recognize and redress inequalities, ensure non-discrimination and respond to specific needs, promote equal opportunities more broadly, including access to quality health, education and care and promoting dece...
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For example, for persons with disabilities, effective access to social protection requires not only adequate disability benefits, but also addressing specific barriers (such as accessibility of information or physical accessibility) across all schemes and promoting decent work (ILO and IDA 2019).
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The recognition of gendered risks and vulnerabilities, such as different exposure to labour market risks or the unequal distribution of household responsibilities and (unpaid) care work between men and women are crucial for gender-responsive social protection systems (Lawson et al. 2020; SPIAC-B 2019; UN Women 2015; 2...
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In this context, the disaggregation of results by sex, age, disability status, employment status, or geographical location is particularly essential to monitor progress towards achieving the SDGs. Strengthening the investment case for social protection Despite the global commitment to achieving the SDGs, substantial, ...
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As mentioned above, a 2020 study conducted for 134 developing countries estimates that a social protection floor package would cost 3.8 per cent of the GDP of the included countries. For low-income countries only, the costs would on average constitute 15.9 per cent of their GDP (Durán Valverde et al. 2020).
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2020). Many countries have already started to build their social protection floors, but increased efforts are required to extend fiscal space, close remaining financing gaps and fully guarantee the four basic social security guarantees as part of national social protection systems. In principle, national social prote...
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Several options to increase fiscal space exist (such as through tax reforms or good governance of social security institutions) that go hand in hand with strategies to extend coverage and increase the level of protection (e.g. through better compliance). For instance, extending social protection to informal workers b...
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In addition to pointing out the different options that exist to increase fiscal space (Ortiz et al. 2019), the role of social protection in Thematic brief on social protection 10 promoting inclusive growth and social cohesion need to be further highlighted, for example by further studying the multiplier effects and re...
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Social protection is an economic and social necessity, particularly in a world where individuals feel that they face more and more uncertain life trajectories and widening gaps in access to resources and opportunities. However, if national economic and fiscal capacities are insufficient, countries can seek internation...
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The COVID-19 crisis has increased the urgency of additional support from international financial institutions, bilateral development and humanitarian partners and other global financing mechanisms to ensure adequate country responses. The United Nations has launched the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund in response ...
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Initiatives from international financial institutions and development banks, in turn, include emergency financing in the form of loans by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) through its Rapid Credit Facility, Rapid Financing Instrument and other financing instruments, as well as a fast-track facility for COVID-19 res...
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Calls for a temporary moratorium on developing countries’ external debt and a massive increase in the issuance of special drawing rights by the IMF are among the measures being proposed to increase developing countries’ fiscal space (cf. Reinhart and Rogoff 2020; Ghosh 2020). 6 Policy recommendations At the present j...
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First, achieving SDG 1.3 by 2030 will only be possible if countries accelerate progress in the extension of social protection coverage, in particular for those furthest behind. Beyond extending coverage and comprehensiveness, monitored by SDG indicator 1.3.1, the adequacy of benefits and services needs more attention ...
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Second, and related to the first challenge, profound transformations and systemic shocks such as COVID-19 put at risk prior achievements or may hamper progress towards social protection for all. At the same time, however, nearly all countries in the world have resorted to social protection measures during COVID-19 to ...
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Against this background, building, strengthening and adapting social protection systems, including floors, along the following lines will simultaneously contribute to an agenda that is concerned with rising inequalities and aims to equalize opportunities: § Build national social protection systems, including floors, th...
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