First published in 1948, the International Social Security Review is the principal international quarterly publication in the field of social security.
In an effort to establish universal health coverage (UHC), Senegal set up two departmental health insurance units (UDAM) to scale-up health insurance to rural communities. Part of this innovation meant that health insurance was longer managed by volunteers, but by professionals. Several years after the conclusion of the project in 2017 that supported their initial development, both UDAMs still operate successfully. This mixed methods research aims to understand the factors that have contributed to the sustainability of both UDAMs, as well as discuss the remaining challenges. The factors deemed favourable to sustainability are actions undertaken to ensure financial stability and organizational risk taking. However, the mobilization of the population, relationships with health professionals and the role of the State have been more difficult to organize. Challenges concern the payment of subsidies and the supply of medicines by the State and partnership with the health care system, the maintenance of contributions, the digitalization of administration, as well as fraud and abuse.
The Chinese social security system has been the subject of numerous publications, which have made policy developments more accessible to researchers and administrators from all countries. However, the steps introduced in response to growing demands for intervention by the authorities in favour of dependent persons have remained poorly documented in the international literature. The purpose of this article is to take stock of pilot experiments in this field since the beginning of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016–2020) with regard to their policy objective, operating mode and financing modalities.
This article reviews administrative issues in the context of decentralized social protection in China. In particular, what are the main obstacles for expanding social insurance coverage for workers in the informal economy? Over the last two decades, China has achieved remarkable progress towards universal social protection when this target was set as a national policy priority. However, the social insurance enrolment of informal economy workers still lags significantly behind. This article reviews the application of the International Labour Organization’s definition of informality in the Chinese context and overviews existing pension and health insurances in China. This article discusses the impact of China’s inter-governmental fiscal relations and decentralized social protection in the multilevel government system. The article highlights that under a system of decentralized managed social insurance many informal sector workers choose to opt out of the system because of low benefits and high compliance costs. This result in deficits in social insurance coverage amongst informal economy workers.
This article examines the sustainability of China’s Urban Employees’ Pension Programme – the main component in China’s overall old-age support system. It looks at the sustainability of the programme generally and, in particular, at case studies of two areas (Tianjin municipality and Guangxi province) to highlight both the extent of regional variations and the common challenges facing Chinese policy-makers. It discusses a number of key issues that should assist policy-makers to address the challenge of population ageing. It concludes that the challenge facing China is no more severe than that already faced by other countries in Europe and Asia. Moreover, the ageing of the population is not uniform across the regions of China. Consequently, those areas where the demographic shift is more advanced will provide some opportunity for policy experimentation. Given the experience to date of slow progress on various aspects of pension policy reform, the article suggests that it seems unlikely that paradigmatic change will be significant. Nonetheless, the study suggests a range of parametric policy measures that should be considered by China. The challenge facing China’s policy-makers is to ensure that China gets old and rich at the same time.
China has made a number of major changes to its pension system in the period 2014–2020, and is in the process of establishing a multi-tier old-age pension system, consisting of programmes provided by the government, voluntary programmes provided by enterprises, and voluntary programmes established by individuals. Policy objectives are to reduce the fragmentation in its pension system; deal with population ageing; and diversify risks by involving the government, enterprises as well as individuals. This article shows that while China has a complex system for urban workers, the coverage provided by its multi-tier system is uneven, with the second and third tiers being in the early stages of development.
Achieving universal pension coverage is both an aspiration and a challenge for many developing economies. Traditional contributory schemes are less effective in extending pension coverage to workers who are not in the formal sectors of the economy. As an alternative, non-contributory schemes have gained popularity in recent years. China’s pension reforms mirror this global trend. The introduction of a contribution-based pension scheme for urban employees (Employees’ Pension) was followed by a scheme for rural and urban residents (Residents’ Pension), which is partly government financed and partly contributory, with multiple options for premium payment. This study uses nationally representative survey data collected in 2016 to compare the inclusiveness of the two schemes. It finds that access to the Residents’ Pension scheme is more equal than the Employees’ Pension. Lower status workers in terms of education, employment, income and hukou-migration are more likely to participate in the Residents’ Pension as opposed to the Employees’ Pension, compared with higher status workers. The Chinese experience suggests that a workable solution for pension extension in low- and middle-income countries is to have a scheme that is flexible, affordable and responsive to the diverse needs of the population.
This special issue selectively addresses the relationship linking social security systems, inclusive growth and social cohesion. Inclusive growth and social cohesion are viewed as political expedient and necessary goals for national economies. The desirability of their attainment reflects political pragmatism, the “social contract”, as much as it does a commitment to the wider emancipative goal of social justice. The International Social Security Association (ISSA) has often paraphrased these assertions to argue that there can be “no social justice without social security”. Of course, progress achieved towards the realization of the goals of inclusive growth and social cohesion should be equally beneficial for the adequacy, sustainability and coverage of social security systems. The aim of this special issue is to unpack and better understand the nature of this relationship.
Social protection and revenue collection are often regarded as potential drivers of social cohesion. The article joins this debate, providing three main contributions. First, we carefully discuss the concept of social cohesion and endorse one specific definition. Second, we propose using the concept of the “fiscal contract” as the key theoretical lens to understand the often neglected potential joint effects of social protection and revenue collection policies on social cohesion. Third, we illustrate three main mechanisms through which these policies can have positive or negative impacts on the different components of social cohesion and highlight how relevant it is for policy-makers to carefully think about these.
China has adopted an array of special social security measures in response to the spread of the COVID-19 virus, to mitigate the downside social and economic impacts caused by the pandemic. Measures include the reduction, exemption and deferral of social security contributions by employers, the extension of benefits coverage for employees, and the provision of more accessible e-services by social insurance agencies. The article points out that a preliminary assessment of those measures would suggest that they have played a key role in supporting social cohesion and in stabilising the economy. In a critical manner, the article compares the measures adopted in China with those of other countries, and identifies how China could learn from international practice and experience. Finally, and based on recent Chinese experience, the article presents proposals that seek to improve the longer-term contribution made by the Chinese social security system to realise the goals of social cohesion and inclusive economic development. As set out in China’s Social Insurance Law of 2010, the social security system should not only support a fair sharing of benefits of development, but also promote social harmony and stability.
The expansion of social assistance in low- and middle-income countries raises important issues for inclusive growth. Labour is by far the principal asset of low-income groups. Changes in the quantity, quality, and allocation of labour associated with social assistance will impact on the productive capacity of low-income groups and therefore on inclusive growth. The article re-assesses the findings reported by impact evaluations of social assistance in low- and middle-income countries to address this issue. Most studies have tested for potentially adverse labour supply incentive effects from transfers but have failed to find supportive evidence. The article highlights findings from this literature on the effects of social assistance on human capital accumulation and labour reallocation. They point to the conclusion that well-designed and well-implemented social assistance contributes to inclusive growth.
This article considers the implementation of a universal basic income, a neglected area in basic income research. We identify and examine three important practical bottlenecks that may prevent a basic income scheme from attaining the universal reach desired and proclaimed by its advocates: i) maintaining a population‐wide cadaster of eligible claimants ensuring full takeup; ii) instituting robust modalities of payment that reach all intended beneficiaries; and iii) designing an effective oversight mechanism in a policy context that actively opposes client monitoring. We argue that the implementation of universal basic income faces unique challenges that its proponents must consider carefully.
Most countries have separate pension plans for public‐sector employees. The future fiscal burden of these plans can be substantial as the government usually is the largest employer, pension promises in the public sector tend to be relatively generous, and future payments have to be paid out directly from government revenues (pay‐as‐you‐go) or by funded plans (pension funds) which tend to be underfunded. The valuation and disclosure of these promises in some countries lacks transparency, which may hide potentially huge fiscal liabilities to be passed on to future generations of workers. In order to arrive at a fair comparison between countries regarding the fiscal burden of their public‐sector pension plans, this article recommends that unfunded pension liabilities should be measured and reported according to a standard approach for reasons of fiscal transparency and better policy‐making. From a sample of Member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development, the size of the net unfunded liabilities as of the end of 2008 is estimated in fair value terms. This fiscal burden can also be interpreted as the implicit pension debt in fair value terms.
Japan and the Republic of Korea achieved universal health insurance coverage for their populations in 1961 and 1989, respectively. At present, Japan continues to operate a multiple‐payer social health insurance system, while the Republic of Korea has moved to an integrated single‐payer national health insurance structure. This article analyzes the influence of political economy in shaping the policy divergence found between these two Bismarckian health insurance systems. Issues addressed include differences in political power, the policy influence of business, the extent to which regional autonomy has developed and regional traits have been preserved, the level of political democratization, the form of political leadership, and the scale of development of the health insurance system. The article offers policy lessons derived from the two countries' experiences.
One of the main challenges facing social policy in Latin American is to guarantee social security coverage for the entire population in the presence of a large informal sector. In Argentina, a regional pioneer in terms of the development of its pension system, more than one third of those of retirement age were without benefits in 2005. Since then, considerable progress has been made in extending coverage thanks to the introduction of a programme that has reduced contribution requirements and allocated benefits to a large number of seniors previously excluded from the system. This article analyzes the impact of this process in Argentina on the level and distribution of coverage, identifies changes in socio‐demographic factors which affect inclusion/exclusion in the social security system, and discusses remaining obstacles to the provision of universal coverage in the medium and long term.
The aim of this article is to establish basic guidelines to support the possible design of an information letter to be sent to individuals who contribute to the Spanish state pension system, should a decision ever be taken to adopt such an instrument. Basing our work on international experience and published research in the field, we look into the concept of “individual pension information” and identify its most relevant features. We then give detailed descriptions of two models for the provision of individual pension information (the United States and Sweden), looking in particular at how these are structured, what aspects could be improved and their limitations. Finally, we offer recommendations for the design of a model for Spain.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of those who are inadequately covered by social protection in more and less developed countries alike, and has exacerbated the fragility of a social contract that was already under strain in many countries. A weak social contract in the context of an exceptional crisis poses a very real risk to social cohesion. Nevertheless, many States have reasserted themselves as the guarantor of rights by protecting public health and incomes. By sustaining these measures, economic recovery will be supported which will help minimize risks that may weaken social cohesion. However, this is a fast-moving, inherently unstable and protracted crisis. Social protection stands at a critical juncture. Decisive policy action will be required to strengthen social protection systems, including floors, as one of the cornerstones of a reinvigorated social contract.