-
Leaving no one behind: A case for inclusive social protection for displaced children International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2024-02-27 Nupur Kukrety, Daniela Knoppik
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
-
-
-
-
Issue Information International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2024-02-27
No abstract is available for this article.
-
Extending coverage to migrant workers to advance universal social protection International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2024-02-27 Samia Kazi‐Aoul, Clara van Panhuys, Mariano Brener, Raúl Ruggia‐Frick
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
-
Social protection for refugees and migrants: Examining access to benefits and labour market interventions International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2024-02-27 Karin Seyfert, Héctor Alonso
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
-
Introduction: To leave no one behind: Social security coverage for displaced populations and migrant workers International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2024-02-27 Roddy McKinnon
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
-
Leaving no one behind: Why social protection must include displaced people International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2024-02-27 Mattia Polvanesi
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
-
The extension of social health protection to refugees International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2024-02-27 Aviva Ron, Dorit Nitzan
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
-
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 International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2024-02-27 Christina Lowe, Jessica Hagen‐Zanker, Caterina Mazzilli, Lea Bou Khater, Luca Pellerano, Abigail Hunt
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
-
Pension financialization and collective risk sharing in Canada and Finland International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-09-21 Jyri Liukko, Aaron Doyle, Turo-Kimmo Lehtonen
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
-
Issue Information International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-09-21
No abstract is available for this article.
-
Digital social security accounts for platform workers: The case of Estonia’s entrepreneur account International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-09-21 Johanna Vallistu
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
-
Improving the protection of migrant workers with work histories in the European Union and Ibero-America: Enhancing the coordination of international social security instruments International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-09-21 Daniela Zavando Cerda, Laura Gómez Urquijo
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
-
The limits of parametric reforms in sustaining the Algerian retirement system in a context of population ageing International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-09-21 Farid Flici
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
-
The expected impact of the 2019 Brazilian pension reform on survivors’ pensions International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-09-21 Rodrigo Souza Silva, Luís Eduardo Afonso
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 role of mutuals and community-based insurance in social health protection systems: International experience on delegated functions International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-06-07 Marietou Niang, Émilie Gélinas, Oumar Mallé Samb, Lou Tessier, Mathilde Mailfert, Aurore Iradukunda, Olivier Louis dit Guérin, Valéry Ridde
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
-
Argentina’s Emergency Family Income (IFE): An opportunity for women’s empowerment International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-06-07 Vanesa D’Elia, Julio Gaiada
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
-
The potential impact of introducing a social security system in the State of Palestine: A computable general equilibrium approach International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-06-07 Tareq Sadeq, Mohanad Ismael, Ali Jabarin, Lulit Mitik
This article assesses the potential impact for the State of Palestine (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
-
Work histories and workers’ failure to satisfy pension contribution requirements: A comparison of Mexico and Uruguay International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-06-07 Ignacio Apella, Gonzalo Zunino
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
-
The Work Profiler: Revision and maintenance of a profiling tool for the recently unemployed in the Netherlands International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-06-07 Martijn A. Wijnhoven, Elise Dusseldorp, Maurice Guiaux, Harriët Havinga
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
-
Issue Information International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-06-07
No abstract is available for this article.
-
Social security coverage for couriers who work through digital platforms in Mexico: A role for a special scheme? International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-03-13 Víctor G. Carreon-Rodríguez, Mauricio F. Coronado-García, Miguel A. Guajardo-Mendoza
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
-
Issue Information International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-03-13
No abstract is available for this article.
-
Curbing the demographic “drifting dune” in long-term care insurance financing: The case of Germany International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-03-13 Lewe Bahnsen, Florian Maximilian Wimmesberger
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
-
The 2022 Greek pension reform: The rebirth of carve-out privatization in Eastern Europe International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-03-13 Nikola Altiparmakov
After a decade of unprecedented austerity, Greece abruptly changed the course of pension consolidation in 2022 and implemented the controversial carve-out pension funding approach, whereby a portion of existing pay-as-you-go (PAYG) contributions are diverted to fund individual pension savings, thus undermining the financing of existing PAYG pensions. Although inspired by the World Bank’s 1994 pension
-
Informal workers and Kenya’s National Hospital Insurance Fund: Identifying barriers to voluntary participation International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-03-13 Raphael Indimuli, Nina Torm, Winnie Mitullah, Lone Riisgaard, Anne W. Kamau
This article investigates the barriers to informal workers’ voluntary participation in Kenya’s national health insurance scheme – the National Hospital Insurance Fund. Based on primary data from both qualitative and quantitative methods, we find that the key determinants of enrolment include social factors, such as marital status, which create demand for insurance, and the role of informal workers’
-
Special pension schemes for workers in arduous and hazardous jobs: Functions and conditions to ensure equal treatment International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-03-13 Sergio Mittlaender
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
-
Michael Cichon (1953–2022) “How to walk the talk” International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2023-03-13
Michael Cichon was an exemplary international civil servant in the best sense of the term. A forceful advocate for social justice, he was an honest man with a clear vision and sharp intellect who genuinely cared for every human being. Being dedicated, principled and generous with his time, he was a role model, teacher, mentor as well as a friend to many of his colleagues and students. Michael was always
-
Introduction: Making the case to formally revise the international social security standards to include long-term care for the elderly International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-09-26 Roddy McKinnon
First published in April 1948 as the Bulletin of the International Social Security Association, this year marks the 75th anniversary of what, since January 1967, we have all come to know as the International Social Security Review. To mark this important anniversary, this special double issue, “The human right to long-term care for the elderly: Extending the role of social security programmes”, talks
-
Long-term care in the context of population ageing: What role for social protection policies? International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-09-26 Lou Tessier, Nathalie De Wulf, Yuta Momose
With the acceleration of population ageing, healthy ageing is becoming an imperative for all. Social protection systems have an important role to play in this endeavour. Through a life cycle approach, social protection systems can support i) the prevention of disability in old age (i.e. by addressing the social determinants of health and rehabilitation), ii) effective access to long-term care without
-
A comparative perspective on long-term care systems International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-09-26 Rainer Kotschy, David E. Bloom
This article investigates the challenges of ageing for long-term care. The analysis proceeds in three steps. In the first step, we estimate the prospective care demand for 30 developed countries based on projected ageing and disabilities among the elderly. In the second step, we outline challenges for care systems with respect to shortages of care workers, increasing skill requirements for care workers
-
Understanding the “state of play” of long-term care provision in low- and middle-income countries International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-09-26 Elena Glinskaya, Zhanlian Feng, Guadalupe Suarez
In this article, we provide an overview of the current long-term care (LTC) landscape across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), based on an analysis and synthesis of literature review findings. We begin with a brief assessment of LTC needs on the demand side, followed by a supply side assessment of the available mix of formal LTC services vis-à-vis informal care provision. Next, we describe
-
Integrated long-term care partnerships between government social care and health agencies in Brazil: The Belo Horizonte model International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-09-26 Peter Lloyd-Sherlock, Karla Giacomin, Poliana Fialho de Carvalho, Quesia Nayrane Ferreira de Sousa
The article sets out key elements of the policy agenda for enhanced integration between health and social care for older people in high-income countries and demonstrates its wider relevance to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The article then explores the context for this agenda in Brazil, including growing demand for long-term care (LTC) and current institutional arrangements. It goes on
-
Providing long-term care: Options for a better workforce International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-09-26 Ana Llena-Nozal, Eileen Rocard, Paola Sillitti
Older people and their care workers have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many OECD Member countries have taken measures to contain the spread of the infection and improve the care workforce. Yet the health crisis is highlighting and exacerbating pre-existing structural problems in the long-term care (LTC) sector. In many OECD Member countries, recruiting enough workers in
-
Long-term care in India: Capacity, need and future International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-09-26 Arunika Agarwal, David E. Bloom
The family is the dominant player in India’s current long-term care (LTC) system. Yet informal family-based arrangements will be insufficient to accommodate India’s growing need for LTC due to increasing longevity and geographic mobility, the prevalence of chronic disease and disability among the elderly, and the decline of extended family living arrangements. Addressing the growing need for LTC will
-
Corrigendum: Universal Health Coverage and Social Health Protection: Policy relevance to health system financing reforms International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-09-26
In Bayarsaikhan et al., 2022, the affiliation 1 and correspondence address were published incorrectly and should read as follows: Dorjsuren Bayarsaikhan*, Lou Tessier** and Aviva Ron*** *P4H, Geneva, Switzerland; **International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland; ***Independent consultant, Israel Addresses for correspondence: Dorjsuren Bayarsaikhan, Global Network for Social Health Protection and
-
Issue Information International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-09-26
No abstract is available for this article.
-
Income protection for self-employed and non-standard workers during the COVID-19 pandemic International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-06-17 Slavina Spasova, Pietro Regazzoni
Based on original evidence from the European Social Policy Network (ESPN), the article investigates the extent to which self-employed and non-standard workers, who are less protected by “ordinary” social protection, were included in “extraordinary” income protection and job retention schemes during the COVID-19 pandemic in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom. When the crisis hit, countries
-
The financial sustainability of public pensions in Cuba: The impact of ageing, structural reforms and the economic crisis International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-06-17 Carmelo Mesa-Lago, Carla Moreno, Stephen J. Kay
This article analyses Cuba’s pension system from 2006–2021 with respect to its financial and actuarial sustainability and impact on the population. It includes discussion of the ageing population; the sharp cut in social expenditures since 2009; the deficit in pension financing and the impact of the 2008 parametric reform; the devaluation of pensions; structural reforms and the expansion of poverty
-
Egypt’s reformed social insurance system: How might design change incentivize enrolment? International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-06-17 Ghada Barsoum, Irene N. Selwaness
In 2019, the Government of Egypt issued a new legal framework for its social insurance system. Aside from providing a unified scheme covering different groups of workers, the new regulation allowed for systemic and parametric reforms that were aimed in large part at addressing the challenge of workers’ low enrolment in social insurance, with an emphasis on informal workers. The reforms reduced the
-
Universal Health Coverage and Social Health Protection: Policy relevance to health system financing reforms International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-06-17 Dorjsuren Bayarsaikhan, Lou Tessier, Aviva Ron
Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Social Health Protection (SHP) are key policy foci that cut across all dimensions of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals agenda. Understanding of these two concepts, their fundamentals and relations would improve health policy development and implementation to attain UHC and effectively protect the health of people and save lives and livelihoods. The COVID-19
-
Factors that foster and challenge the sustainability of departmental health insurance units in Senegal International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-06-17 Valéry Ridde, Mouhamadou Faly Ba, Marion Guyot, Babacar Kane, Ndeye Bineta Mbow, Ibrahima Senghor, Adama Faye
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 no 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
-
Issue Information International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-06-17
No abstract is available for this article.
-
Process evaluation of the Disability Allowance programme in the Maldives International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-03-15 Shaffa Hameed, Matthew Walsham, Lena Morgon Banks, Hannah Kuper
Limited evidence on the design and implementation of social protection programmes for people with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries constrains understanding of how their impacts could be improved. The Disability Allowance programme in the Maldives is a non means-tested, monthly cash transfer targeting people with disabilities. Using qualitative methods, process evaluation was used to
-
Modelling old-age retirement: An adaptive multi-outcome LAD-lasso regression approach International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-03-15 Tero Lähderanta, Janne Salonen, Jyrki Möttönen, Mikko J. Sillanpää
Using unique administrative register data, we investigate old-age retirement under the statutory pension scheme in Finland. The analysis is based on multi-outcome modelling of pensions and working lives together with a range of explanatory variables. An adaptive multi-outcome LAD-lasso regression method is applied to obtain estimates of earnings and socioeconomic factors affecting old-age retirement
-
Can defined contribution pensions survive the pandemic? The Chilean case International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-03-15 Stephen J. Kay, Silvia Borzutzky
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic threatens the viability of Chile’s defined contribution (DC) pension system, undermining its financial foundation and exposing its vulnerability to political risk. The COVID-19 crisis led to the approval of three rounds of emergency withdrawals of 10 per cent of pension savings (as of April 2021). Utilizing pension funds during an economic crisis is neither new nor
-
Dilemmas when implementing conditional cash transfers: Lessons for Ghana and the rest of us International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-03-15 Jones Kwame Adom Danquah, Einar Øverbye
Using the Ghanaian LEAP benefit programme as a case study, we investigate how administrators, service personnel and beneficiaries perceive and respond to implementation dilemmas. The investigation focuses on the LEAP benefit for caregivers of children, which is conditional on children’s school attendance, health check-ups and vaccinations. An ethical dilemma concerns whether non-compliance should be
-
The effect of institutional factors and people’s preferences on expenditure for social protection International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-03-15 Vincenzo Vinci, Franziska Gassmann, Pierre Mohnen
This article analyses whether and to what extent social protection expenditure varies with institutional quality and people’s preferences using cross-section and cross-country panel data. It uses data on expenditure taken from the International Labour Office database focusing on 52 low- and middle-income countries and on 80 high-, low- and middle-income countries. The results show that both factors
-
Issue Information International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2022-03-15
No abstract is available for this article.
-
Introduction: Social protection for digital platform workers in Europe International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2021-10-22 Isabelle Daugareilh
This special issue of the International Social Security Review addresses the important topic of social protection for digital platform workers in Europe. The special issue highlights the risk that social protection systems may be largely undermined by a decline in social solidarity in favour of individualism, the partial or full privatization of social security, and a reduction in protection levels
-
From precarity to the denial of social status in the Belgian legal order: The social security rights of platform workers in question International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2021-10-22 Céline Wattecamps
The right to social security is enshrined in article 23 of the Belgian Constitution. It is the role of the legislator to implement it, to guarantee the right of all to lead a life in accordance with human dignity. Studies show that platform workers face major difficulties in terms of social protection. The aim of this article is to highlight the limits of existing legislative provisions regarding their
-
Platform work, social protection and flexicurity in Denmark International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2021-10-22 Catherine Jacqueson
Are online platform “workers” in Denmark effectively and adequately protected against social and labour market risks? This article discusses this fundamental issue in the context of the Danish labour market, which is known for having high levels of job insecurity but a rather generous social security system. The article finds that the Danish statutory social security system provides a necessary cushion
-
Accommodating platform work as a new form of work in Dutch social security law: New work, same rules? International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2021-10-22 Saskia Montebovi
In the Netherlands, the social security rights of platform workers have still not been formally defined. At present, the level of social security protection accorded to all workers is derived directly from the labour law qualification. In the continuing absence in the Netherlands of specific legislation for platform workers, specifically as regards labour law and social security law, the existing legislation
-
Social protection and the platform economy: The anomalous approach of the French legislator International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2021-10-22 Isabelle Daugareilh
Addressing the social protection of platform workers, the French legislator in 2016 and then in 2019 made moves to incorporate these workers into the general social security regime with regard to certain covered risks (work injury and occupational diseases), and to improve adequacy (enabling possible access to complementary coverage). However, these moves rest on radically opposed perspectives. Rather
-
Platform work and social security in German law: An international law perspective International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2021-10-22 Eberhard Eichenhofer
Platform work confronts traditional social security law in two dimensions. First, it makes the distinction between dependent and independent work uncertain and unclear, as the borderline between these blur. This is a profound challenge for social security law, because the criteria of dependent and independent work have to be precise. In the determination of work as dependent or independent, German
-
Which social security regime for platform workers in Italy? International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2021-10-22 Silvia Borelli, Sofia Gualandi
This article highlights the debate on social security regimes applicable to platform workers in Italy. As social security regimes differ according to the type of employment or self-employment relationship, Italian case law dealing with platform workers’ employment status will be illustrated. Italian legislation, case law and collective bargaining on health and safety at work will then be presented
-
The social protection of platform workers in Romania: Meeting the growing demand for affordable and adequate coverage? International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2021-10-22 Felicia Roşioru
In a changing world of work, platform workers struggle to gain adequate protection, and effective access to the benefits provided by the social security system form a part of this. Social security benefits in Romania are particular in that access is based on a person having a professional income, regardless of the legal status of the worker (subordinate or self-employed). As a rule, all workers are
-
Social security for Spain’s platform workers: Self-employed or employee status? International Social Security Review Pub Date : 2021-10-22 María Luisa Pérez Guerrero, Miguel Rodríguez-Piñero Royo
Studies on the social protection of platform workers in Spain have focused on the bike couriers (or “riders”) who deliver meals to customers’ homes and whose services are used by some of the best-known platforms on the country’s social and economic scene. Most of these workers are covered by the social security scheme for self-employed workers. However, a Supreme Court ruling issued on 25 September