First published in 1948, the International Social Security Review is the principal international quarterly publication in the field of social security.
278 results found
Social protection for refugees and migrants: Examining access to benefits and labour market interventions
Authors:
Karin Seyfert
Héctor Alonso
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 4 (Special issue)
The article discusses the current practices for providing social protection to refugees and migrants, focusing primarily on low- and middle-income (LMICs) destination countries. It examines formal providers of social protection, including state institutions, development agencies and humanitarian organizations. In recent years, there has been an increase in funding from multilateral donors, especially in the context of the COVID–19 pandemic, leading to the establishment of national assistance programmes in LMICs that also encompass refugees and to a lesser extent migrant workers. International agencies play a crucial role in providing humanitarian cash assistance to refugees, given their status under international protection under the 1951 refugee Convention and related protocols. Access to social insurance remains tied to formal employment. Social insurance entitlements for migrants are often restricted and refugees are typically excluded from formal employment in LMICs. Regarding labour market interventions, refugees and migrants are often excluded from national programmes, with migrants’ residence permits being often tied to employment. For refugees, international agencies take a prominent role in providing livelihood programmes aimed at enhancing income-generating opportunities, economic inclusion and financial independence. However, the effectiveness of these interventions remains unclear, lacking rigorous evidence, and often being short-term with limited coverage.
Topics:
Extension of coverage
Difficult-to-cover groups
Keywords:
social protection
coverage
labour market
social assistance
social insurance
displaced person
refugee
migrant
Regions:
International
Extending coverage to migrant workers to advance universal social protection
Authors:
Samia Kazi-Aoul
Clara van Panhuys
Mariano Brener
Raul Ruggia-Frick
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 4 (Special issue)
Migration is a complex phenomenon that has significant implications for migrant workers’ access to social protection and for social security systems in both origin and destination countries. As the number of migrants continues to rise worldwide, policy makers face a multitude of challenges in adapting social protection programmes to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population. This article explores the relationship between migration and social protection, highlighting key issues and trends that have emerged in recent years. It examines the impact of migration on social security systems in both sending and receiving countries and reports on the ways in which migration patterns can create both opportunities and challenges for these systems. The article provides an overview social protection measures and gaps in selected countries and considers the need for policy makers to take account of the unique needs and circumstances of migrant populations. The article also explores the role of international cooperation in addressing the social protection challenges and opportunities posed by migration. It considers some of the emerging trends and innovations to support the governance of social protection schemes that may help to address some of the legal and practical challenges faced by migrant workers and social security institutions. The article highlights the importance of understanding the complex relationship between migration and social protection to develop policies and programmes that are responsive to the needs of all members of society, regardless of their country of origin or immigration status. It also underlines the importance of quality administration and good governance for the effective implementation of social protection measures. In support of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals agenda, a call is made for continued dialogue and collaboration among policy makers and stakeholders to ensure that social security systems are equitable, effective, inclusive, and sustainable in an increasingly globalized world.
Topics:
Extension of coverage
Migration
Keywords:
migrant workers
coverage
social protection
Regions:
International
Leaving no one behind: A case for inclusive social protection for displaced children
Authors:
Nupur Kukrety
Daniela Knoppik
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 4 (Special issue)
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) outlines the rights for every child, including the right to benefit from social security and the right to a standard of living adequate for their physical, mental, spiritual, moral, and social development. The UNCRC is the most widely ratified human rights treaty to date. However, millions of children continue to be denied their rights and face poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion, merely because they are displaced – internally or across borders. Children bear the heaviest burden of displacement, despite not being responsible for its triggers. This reality underlines that a significant population is being “left behind”, threatening progress to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals as part of international efforts to end poverty and ensure all people enjoy peace and prosperity. This article advocates for inclusive social protection systems for displaced children by highlighting the difficulties they encounter, emphasizing the potential benefits of social protection, and assessing the current status of inclusive social protection for this vulnerable group. Drawing on emerging lessons from UNICEF’s experience across several refugee and internal displacement contexts, such as Brazil, Ethiopia, Slovakia, and Türkiye, the article also offers recommendations to strengthen inclusive social protection systems specifically tailored to meet the humanitarian and development needs of displaced children.
Topics:
Children
Extension of coverage
Difficult-to-cover groups
Keywords:
social protection
children
displaced person
gaps in coverage
UN Convention
Regions:
International
Extending social protection to migrant workers in the region of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC): An analysis of enablers and barriers
Authors:
Christina Lowe
Jessica Hagen-Zanker
Caterina Mazzilli
Lea Bou Khater
Luca Pellerano
Abigail Hunt
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 4 (Special issue)
This article explores factors influencing the extension of social protection to migrant workers in the region of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC). While there are some indications of new momentum for reforms, we find that reforms to address gaps in legal social protection coverage have historically been hindered by the very design of the migration system, including the assumed short-term migration time frame and over reliance on employer-sponsored provisions, as well as the political economy in the region, which translates into a segmented labour market and associated social protection entitlements for national and migrant workers, and limited channels for migrant worker representation. Despite some new mechanisms being developed, labour dispute and judicial systems are often ineffective in protecting workers and their families when benefits are not paid. Bureaucratic, financial, language, documentation and geographic barriers constitute further obstacles to migrant workers’ access to social protection in practice. The article closes with key policy implications, including measures for: developing comprehensive legal provisions in line with international standards and principles as well as the commitments to leave no one behind and to ensure social protection for all in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; addressing practical barriers, power imbalances and outreach, monitoring and enforcement gaps; and strengthening dialogue and collaboration between all actors, including GCC and country of origin governments, employers, workers, and wider stakeholders advocating for migrant workers’ rights.
Topics:
Extension of coverage
Migration
Labour protection
Keywords:
migrant workers
coverage
social protection
Gulf States
Gulf Cooperation Council
Regions:
Arab Countries
The extension of social health protection to refugees
Authors:
Aviva Ron
Dorit Nitzan
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 4 (Special issue)
The target populations to be covered in this article on the extension of social protection coverage are refugees, as defined by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Our approach to their coverage is based on the pillars of public health and social protection, which together provide the rationale and legislative basis for coverage. The social protection benefits to be covered are comprehensive health services, providing entitlement to services without conditions such as prior contributions or duration of residence. Refugees are vulnerable since they come from conflict areas or go through persecution and personal threat. They carry grief from the loss of family members and friends, property and livelihood, and social and cultural support. Some have sustained injuries before rescue and evacuation and need additional care. They may have chronic diseases and need medications they can no longer access. Some may have communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis, and children may have missed scheduled mandatory vaccinations. Refugees are vulnerable to new and re-emerging infections, as seen in the COVID–19 pandemic. While the focus in this article is on providing health care, the social determinants of health are addressed, including access to education, employment with decent working conditions, and safe environments. We focus on coverage by national authorities and institutions, legislative amendments to enable entitlement to non-citizens, and provide national examples. Experience has shown that coverage is feasible with the assistance and guidance of international and local organizations and associations and with an acceptance by the existing social protection institutions of the benefits of extending coverage to new members. This article concurs with the principle and pledge of the 2030 Social Development Goals of the United Nations to “leave no one behind”.
Topics:
Health
Extension of coverage
Difficult-to-cover groups
Keywords:
social protection
health
refugee
coverage
Regions:
International
Leaving no one behind: Why social protection must include displaced people
Authors:
Mattia Polvanesi
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 4 (Special issue)
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has the mandate to save lives and build better futures for millions of forcibly displaced and stateless people. This contribution sets out UNHCR’s mandated roles concerning displaced population groups and details the nature of the humanitarian and human development challenges that confront the international community. In this important regard, the social protection coverage extension objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection (USP), to leave no one behind, are considered essential.
Topics:
Extension of coverage
Difficult-to-cover groups
Social protection floor
Keywords:
displaced person
refugee
social protection
gaps in coverage
UN Convention
Regions:
International
Introduction: To leave no one behind: Social security coverage for displaced populations and migrant workers
Authors:
Roddy McKinnon
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 4 (Special issue)
This 2023 special issue of the International Social Security Review contributes to the core debate framed by the international ambition of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to leave no one behind and does so through the lens of social security coverage extension. Specifically, the special issue addresses the social security rights of selected population groups prioritized by the current programme of work of the International Social Security Association; namely, displaced populations, amongst whom children represent a significant proportion, and international migrant workers. Implicit in this choice is a wish to collate, analyse, enrich, and disseminate knowledge to forge a stronger consensus to help realize effective social security coverage for all.
Topics:
Extension of coverage
Social protection floor
Keywords:
displaced person
refugee
children
migrant workers
social protection
coverage
coverage gaps
UN Convention
labour standards
Regions:
International
Improving the protection of migrant workers with work histories in the European Union and Ibero-America: Enhancing the coordination of international social security instruments
Authors:
Daniela Zavando Cerda
Laura Gómez Urquijo
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 3
Migration affects almost every nation, emphasizing the need to guarantee social security rights for all migrants and their families. This article focuses on the rights of workers who migrate between the countries of the European Union (EU) and the Ibero-American Community. In the EU, social security systems are increasingly coordinated through Regulation No. 883/2004 and its Implementing Regulation No. 987/2009. In the Ibero-American Community, coordination is sought through the Ibero-American Social Security Convention. Despite convergence between these two international instruments, coordination is still lacking between them. This article presents a comparative analysis to articulate the necessary mechanisms to guarantee coordination, to respect the social security rights of migrant workers. We focus on the cooperation and coordination between regional as well as national systems, specifically looking at the need for and aims of a rapprochement between these two major international coordination instruments to provide greater Euro-Ibero-American cooperation. Finally, the importance of promoting greater international cooperation in social security policy and administration is highlighted, to engender the adequate protection of the rights as well as the free movement of migrant workers.
Topics:
Extension of coverage
Migration
Bilateral agreements
Keywords:
migrant worker
social security administration
ILO Convention
social security legislation
European Union
Latin America
Regions:
Europe
Americas
The expected impact of the 2019 Brazilian pension reform on survivors’ pensions
Authors:
Rodrigo Souza Silva
Luís Eduardo Afonso
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 3
This study analyses the expected changes in survivors’ pensions resulting from the permanent rules of the 2019 pension reform in Brazil. Actuarial annuities are used for representative worker profiles. The dispersion in the replacement rate values decreases, except for the highest income level. The rates needed to finance survivors’ pensions decrease relatively more than do the rates for old-age pensions. The internal rates of return significantly decrease. There is a heterogeneous change in the distributive aspects of the pension system. The reform shall affect the adequacy and intragenerational equity of old-age and survivors’ pensions.
Topics:
Survivors
Actuarial
Keywords:
social security reform
pension scheme
survivors benefits
risk of survivors
retirement
Countries:
Brazil
Digital social security accounts for platform workers: The case of Estonia’s entrepreneur account
Authors:
Johanna Vallistu
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 3
Advancements in technology enable new opportunities for creating digital social security accounts, but the effectiveness of these to solve the accessibility and eligibility issues facing platform workers has not been assessed fully in the literature. The potential of digital social security accounts lies in their ability to consider the possible different streams of income of atypical workers and to improve the effective access of these workers to social security. Tax and social security offices can now exchange information on the income of platform workers in real time, which offers the promise of formalizing the previously informal casual work relationships of the self-employed. This article explores the case of the Estonian entrepreneur account as a digital hybrid solution for improving the effective access to social security of platform workers. Digital portable accounts create the conditions for the structural improvement required to respond adequately to meet the changing social security needs of atypical workers. However, this also requires that the policy design be thought through carefully, to avoid digital portable accounts being simply a digital facilitator of outdated solutions.
Topics:
Extension of coverage
Digital economy
Keywords:
social security planning
coverage
gaps in coverage
self-employed
atypical work
platform workers
labour market
Countries:
Estonia
Pension financialization and collective risk sharing in Canada and Finland
Authors:
Jyri Liukko
Aaron Doyle
Turo-Kimmo Lehtonen
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 3
This article contributes to the debate concerning pension financialization and how countries are adapting their pension systems to respond to demographic ageing. We do so by examining the statutory pension systems of Canada and Finland, which diverge interestingly from current international trends. The Canadian and Finnish public pension schemes reflect two tendencies often associated with pension financialization: an increasing reliance on financial markets and an investment policy with a diversified asset allocation. However, unlike in many other countries, this has not resulted in heightened individual risks in old-age income security caused by a shift from defined benefit to defined contribution pensions – an otherwise common trend internationally.
Topics:
Old-age pensions
Investment
Financing
Keywords:
pension scheme
social security scheme
social security financing
social insurance
privatization
investment policy
Countries:
Canada
Finland
The limits of parametric reforms in sustaining the Algerian retirement system in a context of population ageing
Authors:
Farid Flici
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 3
Accelerated population ageing in Algeria threatens the financial sustainability of its pay-as-you-go retirement system. Reform is a necessity, with options ranging from simple parametric reforms to important systemic changes. Prior to undertaking systemic reforms, it is worthwhile to investigate whether parametric reforms can place the system on a financially sustainable footing. In this article, we used a multi-scenario analysis that crosses the possible reform actions with possible socioeconomic scenarios. The results show that when using the most favourable scenarios, the financial balance of the Algerian system will remain negative in the short and long term. Implementing major parametric reforms can only help reduce the deficit and make it stable over time. Thereafter, systemic reforms will have to be implemented.
Topics:
Old-age pensions
Actuarial
Financing
Keywords:
pension scheme
retirement
pay as you go system
actuarial
method of financing
demographic aspect
Countries:
Algeria
The role of mutuals and community-based insurance in social health protection systems: International experience on delegated functions
Authors:
Marietou Niang
Emilie Gélinas
Oumar Mallé Samb
Lou Tessier
Mathilde Mailfert
Aurore Iradukunda
Olivier Louis dit Guérin
Valéry Ridde
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 2
The institutional architecture for the provision of social health protection varies across countries, as do the actors and organizations involved. In some countries, mutual benefit societies and community-based health insurance organizations (CBHI) play a role in this area. In the 1990s, these were promoted particularly as a means of extending social security coverage, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In the current context, the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, as well as renewed political will to realize universal coverage, has led to a questioning of the role of mutuals/CBHI. However, the literature on the roles they play in national social security systems remains limited. For this scoping review, 49 documents were analysed, covering 18 countries worldwide, focused on the delegation of functions to mutuals/CBHI in national social health protection systems. The results reveal the dynamics of the delegation of functions within social protection systems over time and their implementation processes. These provide areas for reflection that can inform policy processes.
Topics:
Health insurance
Mutual benefit societies
Keywords:
mutual benefit society
social protection
health
social security schemes
health insurance
Regions:
International
Work histories and workers’ failure to satisfy pension contribution requirements: A comparison of Mexico and Uruguay
Authors:
Ignacio Apella
Gonzalo Zunino
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 2
Comparing Mexico and Uruguay, this article examines the work history of workers and the challenges they face to satisfy the minimum contribution period for eligibility to receive a contributory old-age pension. Administrative data on work histories is used to formulate a survival model aimed at estimating hazard rates of entering and transitioning out of a given contribution status. This model is then used to perform a Monte Carlo simulation to forecast contribution histories. Results suggest that the hazard rate is negatively associated with the length of a worker’s spell in his or her current status and warn that, both in Mexico and Uruguay, a significant group of workers will find it difficult to gain entitlement to a contributory pension in old age. The manner in which each of these national systems has addressed the challenges associated with low contribution densities may explain the two countries’ very different coverage results.
Topics:
Old-age pensions
Extension of coverage
Keywords:
pension scheme
old-age benefit
contributions
eligibility
coverage
Countries:
Mexico
Uruguay
Argentina’s Emergency Family Income (IFE): An opportunity for women’s empowerment
Authors:
Vanesa D’Elia
Julio Gaiada
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 2
This article provides empirical evidence regarding the impact of the Emergency Family Income (Ingreso Familiar de Emergencia – IFE), which was implemented in Argentina in 2020. Investigated is the impact of the IFE on women’s role in providing household income and on the distribution of roles within households, as a reflection of women’s empowerment. Drawing on various household surveys, the study compared those women eligible to receive the transfer with those who were not. A difference-in-differences (DID) methodology was used to measure the impact. Following the implementation of the IFE, women’s share of couple income and household income is found to have increased by some 8 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively, while the probability of women being solely responsible for household chores has fallen by 4 per cent.
Topics:
Family benefits
Gender Inequalities
Keywords:
cash benefit
women’s empowerment
women
COVID-19
Countries:
Argentina
The potential impact of introducing a social security system in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: A computable general equilibrium approach
Authors:
Tareq Sadeq
Mohanad Ismael
Ali Jabarin
Lulit Mitik
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 2
This article assesses the potential impact for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (West Bank and Gaza) of enforcing the enactment of the currently suspended Social Security Law (No. 19 of 2016). Using a computable general equilibrium model, we simulate different scenarios associated with the enactment of the social security system on key macroeconomic variables, such as GDP, private consumption, government spending, investment and employment, for the period 2020–2030. We evaluate the influence on the economy of introducing a social security system for private-sector workers, as set out in the 2016 law, and compare the simulation results of each scenario to the baseline. In each scenario, we consider different options concerning severance payment duration and different options for the investment strategy of social security contributions. However, for employees in Gaza, the article does not consider severance payments due to economic difficulties and the Israeli closure policy.
Topics:
Social policies & programmes
Keywords:
social security schemes
investment policy
severance pay
contributions
Countries:
Palestine, State of
The Work Profiler: Revision and maintenance of a profiling tool for the recently unemployed in the Netherlands
Authors:
Martijn A. Wijnhoven
Elise Dusseldorp
Maurice Guiaux
Harriët Havinga
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 2
For the public employment services of many Member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the importance of using profiling tools for job seekers is increasing rapidly in importance. With this trend, there is also widening concern about the risks of an over reliance on such tools. Part of the concern lies with a lack of transparency concerning how such tools work. This article aims to address this by offering a detailed investigation of the Work Profiler – the instrument used in the Netherlands by the Institute for Employee Benefits (Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen – UWV) to predict re-employment success and provide a diagnosis of key factors hindering job seekers’ return to work. Professionals use these insights to deepen their understanding of the situation of job seekers and decide together with job seeker how to support their return to work. UWV decided to maintain and revise the Work Profiler through a large-scale study involving a sample of 53,238 people. Work Profiler 1.0 was developed in 2007–2010 and has been in use on a regional basis since 2011 and nationwide since 2015. This article explains how the new tool (version 2.0; implemented in 2018) works and, most importantly, demonstrates the choices made to ensure that it functions well and is used effectively by professionals. These latter two aspects are rarely discussed in the literature.
Topics:
Employment
Unemployment
Return to work
Information and communication technology
Keywords:
statistical method
job seeker
unemployment benefit
unemployed
Countries:
Netherlands
Social security coverage for couriers who work through digital platforms in Mexico: A role for a special scheme?
Authors:
Víctor G. Carreon-Rodríguez
Mauricio F. Coronado-García
Miguel A. Guajardo-Mendoza
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 1
The socio-demographic characteristics of couriers who work through digital platforms in Mexico reveal that more than 85 per cent of these workers have completed full-time secondary education and 83 per cent of these workers are young (aged 14 to 44). However, only 25 per cent are covered for health services and social security benefits. Against this backdrop, and guided by international experience, we set out a proposal to provide these workers with a tailored package of social security benefits. The proposal would require to categorize couriers who work through digital platforms as “digital workers”, introduce a special scheme for these workers based on voluntary affiliation, and offer a specific portfolio of benefits.
Topics:
Health insurance
Extension of coverage
Digital economy
Keywords:
platform workers
gaps in coverage
social security legislation
social protection
social security schemes
Countries:
Mexico
Special pension schemes for workers in arduous and hazardous jobs: Functions and conditions to ensure equal treatment
Authors:
Sergio Mittlaender
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 1
Most jurisdictions grant differentiated and more beneficial treatment – usually in the form of early retirement, and commonly under special pension schemes – to workers in arduous or hazardous jobs. Several justifications for such treatment have been advanced, including i) compensating the worker for the hardship, ii) protecting the worker from the hazard, and iii) realizing the principle of equality in the distribution of costs and benefits in the social security system. This article analyses these functions from a socioeconomic perspective and explains how early retirement for workers in arduous and hazardous jobs is necessary to ensure equality by treating “unequals unequally”, and in proportion to their inequality. Moreover, this article presents a precise formula to calculate when a worker should be allowed to retire, so that workers in occupational domains with a shorter life expectancy do not systematically enjoy lower expected benefits from the pension system while having contributed the same amount. Implications for the design and desirability of special pension benefits are discussed.
Topics:
Old-age pensions
Safety and health at work
Keywords:
pension scheme
eligibility
equal treatment
occupational safety
Regions:
International
Curbing the demographic “drifting dune” in long-term care insurance financing: The case of Germany
Authors:
Lewe Bahnsen
Florian Maximilian Wimmesberger
Issue:
Volume 76 (2023), Issue 1
Long-term care provision and financing are becoming increasingly important matters in all ageing economies. Therefore, a major challenge for policy makers is to strike a balance between adequate care and sustainable financing. In this study, we evaluate the proposal of a so-called sustainability factor in German long-term care insurance. Considering changes in the beneficiary-contributor ratio, it aims for a rule-based consideration of demographic dynamics to alleviate pressure on long-term care financing. Using the framework of generational accounting, we demonstrate that this proposal could have a relieving effect on finances, depending on the share of involvement of current and future generations. It may offer an option for pay-as-you-go long-term care insurance systems worldwide that need to curb the impact of ageing societies. Therefore, this article addresses policy makers tasked with designing a sustainable financing model for long-term care insurance. It demonstrates that the sustainability factor represents a step towards sustainable finances and, thus, it might be one component of a more comprehensive reform package.