This document provides a comprehensive overview of the developments and challenges in social protection systems worldwide, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights the existing gaps and offers recommendations for building more robust and inclusive systems. This report is especially valuable for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners working to advance social justice and protect vulnerable populations.
Key Insights
The Pandemic’s Impact on Social Protection Systems
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed deep-seated inequalities and significant gaps in social protection coverage, comprehensiveness, and adequacy across all countries. This highlights the vulnerability of billions of people who were not adequately protected from the socio-economic shock waves.
COVID-19 Response and Social Protection
Governments marshalled social protection as a front-line response to protect people’s health, jobs, and incomes during the COVID-19 crisis. Where necessary, governments extended coverage to hitherto unprotected groups, increased benefit levels, and mobilized additional financial resources.
The Crossroads of Social Protection Systems
Countries stand at a crossroads with regard to the trajectory of their social protection systems, needing to choose between a high-road strategy of reinforcing social protection or a low-road strategy of minimalist provision. The report shows that nearly all countries, irrespective of their level of development, have a choice.
The State’s Role in Social Protection
Establishing universal social protection and realizing the human right to social security for all is the cornerstone of a human-centred approach to obtaining social justice. The State is charged with progressively realizing universality of protection.
Social Protection for Children and Families
The vast majority of children still have no effective social protection coverage. Only 26.4 per cent of children globally receive social protection benefits. To address the dramatic increase in child poverty caused by COVID-19, close social protection coverage gaps and deliver the best results for children and society, policymakers must implement an integrated systems approach.
Social Protection for Women and Men of Working Age
A third of the world’s working-age population has their income security protected by law in the event of sickness, and less than a fifth of unemployed workers worldwide actually receive unemployment benefits. The pandemic has highlighted the crucial role of unemployment protection schemes to protect jobs and incomes.
Social Protection for Older Women and Men
Pensions for older women and men are the most widespread form of social protection in the world. However, major disparities remain across regions, between rural and urban areas, and between women and men.
Social Health Protection
Significant progress has been made in increasing population coverage, with almost two thirds of the global population protected by a scheme. Collective financing, broad risk-pooling and rights-based entitlements are key conditions for supporting effective access to healthcare for all in a shock-responsive manner.
Key Statistics & Data
- As of 2020, only 46.9% of the global population were effectively covered by at least one social protection benefit.
- High-income countries spend on average 16.4% of GDP on social protection, which is significantly more than lower-income countries.
- Approximately 30% increase in the financing gap for building social protection floors since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.
- Substantial gender coverage gaps in legal pension coverage, with women coverage lagging behind men by 8 percentage points.
- There has been a 30 per cent increase in the costs and financing of pension systems since the onset of the COVID-19.
- Lower-middle-income countries would need to invest an additional US$362.9 billion per year to guarantee at least a basic level of social security through a nationally defined social protection floor.
Methodology
- This report is based on data collected through the ILO Social Security Inquiry (SSI)
- The report uses quantitative data, trend analysis, and legal frameworks to support its arguments.
Implications and Conclusions
- The COVID-19 pandemic presents countries with a choice to pursue either a high-road or low-road strategy for social protection systems.
- Establishing universal social protection is a cornerstone of a human-centered approach for social justice.
- Further investment in social protection is required to address both the current crisis and future risks, with prioritization given to nationally defined social protection floors.
Key Points
- The pandemic has exposed deep-seated inequalities and significant gaps in social protection coverage, comprehensiveness, and adequacy across all countries.
- COVID-19 provoked an unparalleled social protection policy response, with governments using it to protect health, jobs, and incomes.
- Socio-economic recovery remains uncertain, but enhanced social protection spending is crucial for a human-centered recovery.
- Countries are at a crossroads in the trajectory of their social protection systems, facing choices between high-road and low-road strategies.
- Universal social protection is the cornerstone of a human-centered approach to achieving social justice and contributes to preventing poverty, containing inequality, enhancing human capabilities, fostering dignity, and reinvigorating the social contract.
- Worldwide, nearly 4.1 billion people were left wholly unprotected by social protection systems as of 2020, with significant regional inequalities.
- This report is based on the ILO World Social Protection Database which provides comprehensive country-level data.