Access to social security and the extension of coverage
The challenge of migratory flows
The United Nations estimates that in 2009 more than 210 million people – 3.1 per cent of the world population – lived outside the country where they were born. Of those, some 20 to 30 million were irregular migrants (UNDP, 2009).
Asia and Europe are the two main regions of origin of migratory flows. However, more than two-thirds of the movements are within the regions themselves. In Europe the main flows are from Eastern Europe to the countries of the European Union (EU). In Asia the flows are towards Japan, Hong Kong (China), Republic of Korea, Singapore and to a number of the Gulf States. Latin America and Africa are also at the origin of a significant volume of migratory flows.
Available data (Table 1) confirms that migratory flows occur mainly between low-income and high-income countries. In 2000, some 130 million migrants (70 per cent) came from low-income or lower middle-income countries, while those same countries accommodated only 40 per cent of all migrants. By contrast, high-income countries received some 93 million migrants (50 per cent) but were the source of only 19 per cent of all migrants. Closer examination of the figures shows that the migratory flows are not only one-way: over the same period nearly 67 million migrants from low-income or lower middle-income countries lived in countries in the same income bracket.
The attraction exerted by high-income countries on migrants – due in particular to the greater economic opportunities that they can offer – is accompanied by a demographic transition marked by a rapid ageing of the populations in those countries, which in turn is a factor likely to increase the demand for foreign manpower and thereby increase international migration.
In view of such trends there is an urgent need to identify the social security needs of migrant populations, mainly those in the sectors of construction, manufacturing, hotels and restaurants, health care, education, domestic work and agriculture in the host countries. In those sectors, where working conditions are particularly flexible, many migrant workers, especially the low-skilled, who can be the victims of abuse and exploited. Women, who are leaving their home countries alone in increasing numbers, today account for almost half of all international migrants and face specific problems with regard to their protection.
Moreover, as the obstacles to manpower mobility between countries are increasing, irregular migration and human trafficking are growing, endangering the human rights and labour rights of migrant workers (ILO, 2006).
In view of the difficulty attached to their atypical occupational profiles, migrant workers must be covered by specific provisions in social security to ensure their access to social security programmes in host countries. Separated by distance from their communities of origin and from their traditional support networks, newly arriving migrants are in a vulnerable situation. There are many barriers, and in many cases these involve access to formal social security systems in the host country being deferred by several months or even years. At the same time, the contributions paid by migrant workers in their countries of origin or in the country where they were previously working may be devalued dramatically or simply not recognized.
More specifically, host and origin countries taken together, only 20 per cent of all migrants are covered by bilateral agreements. Nearly 55 per cent may, on returning to their home country, enjoy access to benefits from the home or host country, but this is not a coordinated process and generally means loss of benefits by temporary migrants. In addition, 5 per cent of migrants have no access to any system for the transfer of benefits from the host country, even when they are working there legally. Finally, it is estimated that 20 per cent of migrants (both legal and without papers) work in the informal sector, with only limited possibilities of transferring social security benefits from the host to their home country on their return (Holzmann and coll., 2005).
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Box 1
Bilateral, regional and multilateral agreements are supposed to enable regular migrant workers, and where appropriate irregular migrants, to enjoy social security coverage and benefits and to transfer their entitlement to social security benefits.
Two States in southern Africa, Zambia and Malawi, have concluded what seems to be an extensive, successful and efficient bilateral social security agreement which provides for the transborder payment of a range of social security benefits. This initiative should serve as an example for the extension of such transfer agreements to other countries in the region.
Germany has concluded a bilateral agreement with Morocco which includes a non-discrimination clause: since any German resident abroad is entitled to receive a pension without any reduction, Moroccan nationals who have contributed to the German pension system are also elegible for a full pension on returning to their home country. However, nationals (of non-EU states or third party states) of countries with which Germany has not concluded a bilateral social security agreement must accept a 30 per cent reduction in their pension on returning to their country of origin.
Sources: Olivier, 2005; Avato and coll., 2009.
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To these difficulties may be added the consequences of the financial crisis: in a context of generally rising unemployment migrant workers are frequently the first to be laid off, alongside ethnic minorities, young people, older workers and those with low skills. In addition, the fall in incomes in migrants’ host countries may also result in increased demand for cheaper goods and services, leading in turn to clandestine economic activity offering greater opportunities to irregular migrants. Migrants who lose their jobs may hence find themselves in an increasingly precarious situation.
For labour-exporting countries, such as India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Ecuador, El Salvador, and in parts of Eastern Europe, the consequences of the economic crisis can be measured by the return of thousands of migrant workers (ILO, 2009). As a result of the increased demand for services in the form of unemployment benefits, accommodation, and social assistance caused by this reverse flow, social security institutions in those countries have to commit to dynamic and innovative measures to promote both employment and social protection.
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Box 2
In 2009 the Government of the Philippines launched a new project, the Filipino Expatriate Livelihood Support Fund (FELSF), whereby it aims to provide loans of up to PHP 50,000 (USD 1,000) to migrant workers displaced as a result of the world economic crisis. The Fund has a base of one billion pesos (USD 20 million) and is managed by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), with support from government loan institutions such as the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP). Since May 2009 the Fund has disbursed more than PHP 73 million (USD 1.5 million) to some 1, 473 applicants.
A number of programmes have also been established to provide support to Philippine migrants returning home: these concern vocational training and assistance to jobseekers and entrepreneurs.
Source: Newland and Terrazas, 2009.
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There is an urgent need to understand the specific needs of migrant workers in order to cope with the challenge of this continuing flow of migrants. To respond to this issue, the ISSA has decided to discuss this problem both at its forthcoming International Policy and Research Conference on Social Security, to be held in Luxembourg from 29 September to 1 October 2010, and addresses it through its future Strategy on the Extension of Coverage, making migrant workers a priority group.
Bibliography
Avato, J.; Koettl J.; Sabates-Wheeler, R. 2009. Definitions, good practices, and global estimates on the status of social protection for international migrants (Social Protection Discussion Paper, No. 0909). Washington, DC, World Bank.
Holzmann, R.; Koettl, J.; Chernetsky, T. 2005. Portability regimes of pension and health care benefits for international migrants: An analysis of issues and good practices (Social Protection Discussion Paper, No. 00519). Washington, DC, World Bank.
ILO. 2006. ILO multilateral framework on labour migration: Non-binding principles and guidelines for a rights-based approach to labour migration. Geneva. International Labour Office.
ILO. 2009. Tackling the global jobs crisis: Recovery through decent work policies (Report of the Director-General, International Labour Conference, 98th session, report I-A). Geneva. International Labour Office.
Newland, K.; Terrazas, A. 2009. Roundtable 2: Migrant integration, reintegration and circulation for development? Session 2.2. Reintegration and circular migration—effective for development? (Journées de la Société Civile (JSC), 3rd Global Forum on Migration & Development (FMMD), Athens, 2-3 November). <http://www.gfmd2009.org/UserFiles/file/RT%202_2%20NEWLAND_TERRAZAS%20paper%20%28EN%29%5B1%5D.pdf> (accessed on 15 March 2010).
Olivier, M. 2005. Acceptance of social security in Africa (ISSA Regional Conference for Africa, Lusaka, Zambia, 9-12 August). Geneva, International Social Security Association.
Sabates-Wheeler, R. 2009. Social security for migrants: Trends, best practice and ways forward (ISSA Project on examining the existing knowledge of social security coverage, Working paper 12). Geneva, Association internationale de la sécurité sociale.
UNDP. 2009. Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development (Human Development Report, 2009). New York, NY, United Nations Development Programme.
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Reform of family benefits in France: Priority to early childhood
France's family allowance policies have been accompanied by a relatively healthy demographic situation in the country
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France’s long-standing and acclaimed approach to family policies has attracted growing worldwide attention during the last decade. The success of French demography (its fertility rate is among the highest in Europe, together with Ireland) can partly be imputed to the overall effects of the benefits and facilities provided. Recent changes in family benefits have further intensified efforts to improve the services provided for small children. They make it easier to reconcile family and professional life and thus encourage a relatively high fertility rate in a period of increasing equality between men and women.
Family policy: wide frontiers
The scope of family policy has widened steadily since the first legislation on social welfare was introduced the end of the 19th century with the introduction of the Family Branch of Social Security during the post-war period, culminating in present-day socio-fiscal measures.
In addition to the allowances distributed by family allowance funds (Caisses d’Allocations familiales (CAF)) the public authorities also provide direct payments to families for the care of children and other related benefits. Some of these provisions interconnect with policies in other areas such as housing, education, employment and the fight against poverty. Apart from “classical” family cash benefits, families also cumulate a number of other advantages under the heading of housing benefits, tax benefits related to the specificities of the French tax system and deferred benefits such as retirement.
Family policy can be presented as four concentric circles grouping the principal expenditures.
- The first circle includes expenditure on "family" and "maternity" as listed in the European statistical nomenclature. Apart from the family allowances provided by the CAFs, this group includes local authority expenditure on social welfare for children and maternity benefits provided under the health insurance scheme. Total expenditure on these items amounts to 3 per cent of GDP.
- Certain other measures which contribute to redistribution to families must also be taken into account. The composition of the family is an element which affects the calculation of housing allowances and certain social minima. This brings expenditure on the family up to 3.3 per cent of GDP.
- Further benefits in the form of reduced taxes must also be included. “Tax expenditures” is a frequently-used term referring to the loss of tax revenues, which further increase expenditure on social welfare. Tax reductions for families include various child-based elements which affect the level of taxation. When tax reductions for families are included, expenditure on the family and maternity rises to 4 per cent of GDP.
- Finally, a broad definition of family policy must also take into account the effects of retirement benefits on the family: child-based increases in pension rights and in the duration of insurance. Using this broad definition, social welfare expenditure on the family and maternity amounts to 5 per cent of GDP.
Based on its comparative conventions, the OECD places France at the top of the list for expenditure on family policy with almost 4 GDP percentage points.
A growing emphasis on early childhood
Activity among women has increased and since the 1970s has led to new measures in favour of families which are often intended to facilitate it, and which involve activities focusing on early childhood.
Early childhood strategies can be divided into three groups:
- increased child-care facilities (nurseries) and better financial support for them;
- increased benefits to provide partial cover of the cost of child care by registered childminders;
- paid parental leave for a parent who withdraws, either partly or entirely, from the labour market.
From 1970 onwards the government and the CAFs decided to subsidise nurseries. In 1977 nannies, under the new title of childminders, were given formal legal status. Since 1980 the CAFs have provided financial assistance for parental employers. From 1983 onwards the CAFs have entered into "nursery contracts" with local authorities who invest in them. In 1989 childminding expenses were made tax-deductible.
In 1985, under a left-wing government, a parental education allowance (allocation parentale d’éducation (APE)) was introduced for a parent (almost always the mother) who withdraws wholly or partly from work in order to bring up children (from the third child onwards). This allowance falls between unemployment measures and classical measures affecting family policy.
An allowance for childminding at home (allocation pour la garde d’enfant à domicile (AGED)) was introduced in 1986 under a right-wing government; in practice it benefited the more wealthy households, but it also contributed to the extension of service jobs and to the fight against undeclared work.
A subsidy was created in 1990 to help families employing a registered childminder (l’aide aux familles pour l’emploi d’une assistante maternelle agréée (AFEAMA)) and family legislation introduced in 1994 extended the benefit of the APE to the second child.
The benefits thus provided enable parents (usually the mother) to interrupt their careers in order to look after their children, while at the same time helping them to make arrangements for their children to be looked after if they prefer to remain at work. "Freedom of choice" is given as the underlying principle behind the development of community facilities, individual benefits for child-minding and paid leave for parents. The public authorities aim to provide support for family (mothers’) aspirations of all kinds, whether it means remaining at home, returning to it or active employment.
The different parameters of these various types of intervention have been the subject of much debate and have developed in different directions. The AGED, like all the fiscal benefits connected with childminding, has thus led to more or less favourable measures depending on the majority in power. Differences of opinion have tended to disappear (although they may resurface eventually), and the stated objective remains the development of all types of child-minding facilities.
Early childhood is today’s priority
A further aim has been to simplify measures that were considered too scattered. This led to the creation of a young child’s benefit (Prestation d’Accueil du Jeune Enfant (PAJE)) in 2004.
The dual objective of the PAJE is to simplify legislation concerning childminding for young children and to provide greater freedom of choice for parents. Its aim is to enable them to choose the type of facility they think best for their child and to reduce, or suspend, their professional activities in order to devote themselves to their child’s education. Families can claim this new benefit, which replaces five others, on the birth or adoption of a child. It includes a special payment on birth or adoption and a basic allowance. It also includes a supplementary benefit for freedom of choice of activity (complément de libre choix d'activité (CLCA)), and a payment to ensure freedom of choice of childminding facilities (complément de libre choix du mode de garde (CMG)). The latter is paid when parents who were actively employed choose to have their child looked after at home or, as is more frequently the case, by a registered childminder. This supplementary benefit replaces the AFEAMA and the AGED. The CLCA replaces the APE; it differs from the latter in that it also applies to a first child.
Enterprises have also participated in the extremely rapid development of facilities for the care of young children. Subsidies have been provided to enable the private sector to create and operate such facilities. Enterprises can apply for tax rebates on measures to help those of their employees with family responsibilities. Since 2004, the public authorities can finance up to 80 per cent of the investment needed to enable a company to create its own nursery.
Increasing efforts have been made over the past 25 years in favour of small children. Special benefits for early childhood have increased from a quarter to a third of the total family benefits paid by the CAFs. Furthermore, local authorities have been closely involved in the development of these facilities, which offered a total of 350,000 places in 2008.
Recent years have been characterised by debate on basic principles, with no radical innovations. Two converging projects have surfaced regularly since 2007. They involve a move towards a “public service for early childhood” or towards “an enforceable right to child care”. In both cases the principle, which is based on policies in Scandinavian countries, involves the proposal of childcare for all children under three years of age. It is a fact that the northern European countries are those which provide the most extensive and best appreciated policies for small children.
In France, the move towards a reorganization of this kind (public service and/or enforceable right), would mean a general reform of the governance of French family policy, which is not currently on the agenda.
It should be emphasized that the prioritization of early childhood in family policies and benefits has been accompanied by a relatively healthy demographic situation in the country. However, it should also be pointed out that there is a low correlation between the level of expenditure, the quality of available childcare and fertility rates. The French model cannot therefore provide an exportable “solution” to the demographic concerns of developed countries.
Text by: Julien Damon, Associate Professor, Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po)
ISSA Good Practice Awards for Europe
The National Family Allowances Fund in France has won the first Good Practice Award for Europe for the creation of the “mon-enfant.fr” Website, which provides comprehensive information on childcare solutions throughout the country for families and professionals.
See also
ISSA Country profile: France >>
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Social Security Reforms
From Australia, Canada, the People’s Republic of China, the Czech Republic, Japan, Kenya, New Zealand, the Philippines, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States and Viet Nam
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A selection of recent reforms in social security schemes worldwide compiled by the ISSA Social Security Observatory, with links to a full description of the reforms in the ISSA country profiles.
Australia: Report on superannuation funds governance
(Source: SSA) The preliminary report on governance finds that the current "one-size-fits-all" regulatory infrastructure of the superannuation industry does not protect the interests of all members and may be too complex and too costly for certain groups. (A member is anyone with a superannuation account.) The panel suggests a shift away from this single model of fund governance to one that takes into account the different types of members, which include the following groups.
Full article >>
ISSA Country profile: Australia >>
Canada: Reform of the private pension plans announced
(Source: SSA) On October 27, the Minister of Finance announced a reform plan to strengthen the regulatory framework for federally regulated private pension plans. The plan is the culmination of months of consultations following the release of a Department of Finance discussion paper in January. According to the government, the proposed reforms—which will be introduced through changes in regulation and through new legislation—will increase the security of benefits for workers and retirees while allowing pension plan sponsors to better meet their funding requirements.
Full article >>
ISSA Country profile: Canada >>
The People’s Republic of China: New stipulations on pension portability adopted
In late December 2009, the Chinese State Council decided to implement nationwide as of 1 January 2010 “The Provisional Measures on Transfer and Continuity of the Basic Old-age Pension Relationship concerning the Urban Enterprise Workers”, a document which was formulated jointly by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MoHRSS) and the Ministry of Finance in an effort to enhance interregional labour mobility.
Full article >>
ISSA Country profile: The People’s Republic of China >>
Czech Republic: Measures to stabilize the country’s state-run pension system
(Source: SSA) On January 1, changes to the Czech Republic's social insurance system went into effect that raise the retirement age, increase the years of service required to obtain an old-age pension, increase the annual earnings contribution ceiling, and expand the definition of disability. According to the government, the changes are meant to stabilize the country's state-run, pay-as-you-go system.
Full article >>
ISSA Country profile: Czech Republic >>
Japan: A new independent government corporation to administer the social insurance system
(Source: SSA) Japan's new government announced on October 8 that it will replace the Social Insurance Agency (SIA) with an independent government corporation, the Japan Pension Agency (JPA), to improve the overall efficiency of public pension administration.
Full article >>
ISSA Country profile: Japan >>
Kenya: Launch of informal sector (“jua kali”) pension scheme
A new individual contribution pension scheme for the “jua kali” (informal sector) entitled “Mbao Pension Scheme” was launched by the Kenya National Jua Kali Co-operative Society Limited. Targeting 8.5 million people in small and medium enterprises, it is expected that the scheme could become the country’s largest within a few years and may eventually expand to the East African region.
Full article >>
ISSA Country profile: Kenya >>
New Zealand: Adjustment of the New Zealand Superannuation proposed
(Source: SSA) On October 29, New Zealand Treasury released a report on the long-term fiscal prospects of the country, projecting national revenues and expenditures 40 years into the future.
Full article >>
ISSA Country profile: New Zealand >>
Philippines: The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation increases benefits by 35 percent
To ensure the financial protection of its members, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC) declared across-the-board increases in varying degrees in the benefit entitlements of its members.
Full article >>
ISSA Country profile: Philippines >>
Portugal: Changes in the social security system contributions
(Source: SSA) On September 16, a new law entered into force that affects contributions to the pay-as-you-go social security system. This new law, which will be implemented gradually starting January 1, 2010, consolidates multiple laws for different groups of workers and changes the contribution rates for certain groups of workers.
Full article >>
ISSA Country profile: Portugal >>
Sweden: Merger of Sweden's pension buffer funds recommended
(Source: SSA) In a report made public on November 30, an independent committee within the Ministry of Finance recommended the merger of Sweden's pension buffer funds in order to take advantage of economies of scale and to improve returns.
Full article >>
ISSA Country profile: Sweden >>
United Kingdom and United States: Bilateral Agreement to encourage best practices in protecting retirement benefits
(Source: SSA) On November 4, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) in the United States signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) and The Pensions Regulator of the United Kingdom to encourage and enable best practices in protecting retirement benefits. Under the MOU, agencies will share nonconfidential information that seeks to improve the financial security of defined benefit (DB) plans sponsored by private-sector companies in their respective countries.
Full article >>
ISSA Country profile: United Kingdom >>
ISSA Country profile: United States >>
Viet Nam: New Decree and Circular on Health Insurance
Decree 62 and Circular 9 clarify that effective 1 October 2009; foreign employees are subject to mandatory health insurance contributions in the same manner as Vietnamese employees. This is the first time that Viet Nam includes foreign employees in the scope of its national health insurance programme.
Full article >>
ISSA Country profile: Viet Nam >>
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Good practices in social security: Social security coverage for migrant workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council States
Unified law seeks to extend social security coverage to all citizens working in the region
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An important aspect of labour-market globalization is the increased mobility of workers to travel abroad to work. Such mobility presents important challenges for social security administrations to maintain, as well as to extend, coverage to migrant workers and to register and protect these workers’ contributions, both in their home country and in the country of work. With the aim of addressing these challenges, an initiative involving an important number of social security institutions (1) from the Member States of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has developed a common legal framework to improve the social security of their citizens.(2)
To improve provision of coverage to all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) citizens working abroad in any of the Council Member States, in January 2006 the six GCC Member States (the Kingdom of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) promulgated a unified social security law to cover these workers against the contingencies of old age, disability and death. The unified law and its full implementation is a further major step towards achieving integration and coordination between the GCC Member States in all fields, including social security coverage for their citizens.
Prior to the 2006 law, a GCC national working in any other GCC state was not covered by social security, which left workers vulnerable to an increased risk of poverty. Following implementation of the law, employers are now required to register all GCC state citizens employed by them according to the procedures of the employee’s home country.
Apart from aiming to extend social security coverage to GCC citizens, this undertaking has also aimed at increasing labour mobility through enabling freedom of movement of workers between the GCC states in a coordinated fashion. Indeed, since 2006, the annual growth rate of the number of GCC citizens working for instance in Saudi Arabia is over 30 per cent, while the number of Saudis working in other GCC countries has increased by over 40 per cent according to recent figures. For the region’s economy, this initiative should strengthen the development of more cooperative economic initiatives among the GCC states. For the social security institutions, it allows a transfer of knowledge and expertise, and should permit greater administrative and legal coordination. Finally, by expanding the base of social security contributors, the 2006 law has resulted in an increase in financial revenues for the states’ respective social security agencies.
Practical implications
To enforce this legal undertaking successfully has required an important degree of political, legal and administrative cooperation and coordination among the various social security administrations from the six countries. To this end, political will has been vital. The executive departments of each social security institution drew up the implementing guidelines of the law, including procedures for registering contributors and collecting contributions.
During the initial implementation phase, regular visits were carried out between the respective social security institutions to exchange on the status of, as well as on any real or potential obstacles to, the implementation process. This approach helped achieve optimal results in terms of administration, as staff were trained and acquainted with the laws and regulations of the other GCC States, thus better enabling them to process the cases of migrant workers efficiently. To ensure effective implementation and to prevent any potential adverse side-effects, legal oversight is ensured by the competent authorities. Furthermore, the implementation of the law is constantly monitored by a permanent body composed of representatives of the social security institutions in all the GCC Member States.
Integration and coordination has been further achieved by the social security institution of the worker’s host country acting as a “liaison office” for the worker’s home country institution. In this manner, migrant workers from GCC states receive social security coverage in accordance with the approved procedures, including the forms and documentation, of the worker’s home country. This cost-efficient approach avoids the need for creating offices in other GCC states and for hiring new staff.
An important element in the implementation of this reform was the role of media in promoting the law and informing GCC states’ citizens through advertisements, TV spots, communication with embassies and information seminars on migrant rights to social security coverage when working abroad in neighbouring GCC states.
As a good practice showcase offering wider lessons for other regions, the GCC states’ initiative illustrates how coordinated and integrated policy approaches can create synergies not only at a national but also at the regional level. In this instance, the objective is to make social security more accessible by simplifying administrative procedures and providing better client-oriented services, which should help reduce gaps in coverage and thus result in better-protected workers. As a further objective, increased cost-efficiency is equally important.
Finally, it is interesting to note that integration and coordination among social security institutions reflects an increasing trend, representing one element of innovation within what the ISSA defines as Dynamic Social Security.
The lessons of sharing “good practice”
The collection and dissemination of good practice examples enables organizations and leaders involved in social security to build a culture of exchange about “what works” and, equally important, to diffuse understanding about “why, how and under what conditions”.
By providing ISSA member organizations with greater access to knowledge about the experience of others, organizations should be better able to reach informed decisions on the choices appropriate for their own circumstances. However, it remains with national authorities to decide on what is relevant to their specific context, and how such learning should ultimately inform choices about policy design and implementation and programme delivery.
ISSA Good Practices database
For the ISSA, a good practice is defined as any type of experience (e.g. an action, a measure, a process, a programme, a project, a technology) implemented within a social security organization that is focused on the improvement of administrative and operational capacities and/or the efficient and effective delivery of programmes. In November 2008, a new database on good practices in social security was launched by the ISSA, with the aim of providing a unique source of data on developments in social security practice. The database already contains over 100 good practices.
Good Practices in Social Security Database >>
ISSA Good Practice Award for Asia and the Pacific
The joint project The Unified Law of Insurance Protection Extension for the Gulf Cooperation was one of the winners of the first ISSA Good Practice Award for Asia and the Pacific, and was submitted by the General Organization for Social Insurance of Saudi Arabia. The Awards were presented by the ISSA during a ceremony on 21 October in Manila, Philippines. The full results of the first Good Practice Award for Asia and the Pacific are available on the ISSA Website:
Brochure: ISSA Good Practice Award – Asia and the Pacific 2009: Competition results >>
(1) Social Insurance Organization, The Kingdom of Bahrain; Public Institution of Social Security, Kuwait; Public Authority for Social Insurance, Oman; General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority, Qatar; General Organization for Social Insurance, Saudi Arabia; Public Pension Agency, Saudi Arabia; General Pension and Social Security Authority, United Arab Emirates.
(2) This initiative was submitted by the General Organization for Social Insurance, Saudi Arabia, and was one of the two joint winners of the ISSA’s Asia and Pacific Good Practice Award in 2009. For more information, consult the ISSA Good Practice Database at http://www.issa.int/goodpractices.
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Social security and the crisis: New ISSA resources
The ISSA Secretariat continues to monitor the impact of the financial and economic crisis on social security systems
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The ISSA has continued to collect and analyse information on the impact of the crisis on social security schemes as part of its objective to provide a platform for the exchange of strategies, policies and good practices in social security.
The regularly-updated social security crisis monitor on the ISSA Website includes news, analysis and multiple resources on institutional responses to the crisis (www.issa.int/financialcrisis). New additions include snapshots on specific country situations, in-depth articles and video interviews with experts. The full results of the ISSA survey on social security in times of crisis will soon be available.
In addition, a themed issue of the ISSA quarterly International Social Security Review will be dedicated to “Social security and the crisis”, and will provide deeper analysis of the immediate negative impacts of recent global events on the financial health of social security and pension funds.
As the Review’s articles report, for social security systems, the recent period has proved to be a double-edged sword. The crisis has boosted social security’s status, not least in fashioning its role as a “social and economic buffer”. But the crisis has also underlined that increased social spending on benefits, especially when this accompanies reduced income from contributions and investments, has reduced the latitude for maintaining levels of social spending required in the future.
International Social Security Review, Vol. 63, No. 2 (available in English in April, and in French, German and Spanish in May 2010). Further information and subscriptions: www.issa.int/review
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Dynamic Social Security for Europe: Choice and Responsibility
Innovation needed to ensure sustainability of social security in Europe, says new ISSA report
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Social security systems in Europe will need to further innovate and reform to mitigate the impact of the economic crisis and population ageing, and ensure financial sustainability, according to a new report published by the International Social Security Association.
The report, Dynamic Social Security for Europe: Choice and Responsibility, provides a comprehensive survey of developments and trends in social security in the Europe region, including pensions, family benefits, health-care and the administration of schemes. Social spending in Europe varies widely, reaching as much as 30 per cent of GDP in some countries, and this is expected to increase as a result of population ageing in the coming decades.
The economic crisis has added new pressures to the financing of social security in the region, through a combination of increased demand benefits and declining income, according to the report. A series of structural changes, including demographic trends, the effects of globalization on the labour market and evolving family structures and social norms, add to the complexity of choices facing social security administrators.
The report identifies innovation as a key factor for improved performance as schemes face increased demands to simultaneously improve cost-effectiveness and quality, and gives examples of how policy-makers are addressing these constraints by adjusting programmes and reshaping systems, thereby contributing to recovery and growth in European economies.
Download
http://www.issa.int/Resources/ISSA-Publications/Dynamic-Social-Security-for-Europe-Choice-and-Responsibility
Also available: Social Policy Highlight 11
Dynamic Social Security for Europe: A social model for recovery and growth >>
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Social Security Programs Throughout the World: The Americas, 2009
New publication of the US Social Security Administration
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Social Protection and Poverty
New UNRISD publication
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In the last decade, social protection has emerged as a policy framework employed to address poverty and vulnerability in developing countries. This report has two main aims: to provide an overview of social protection, and to provide an assessment of its potential contribution to addressing poverty and vulnerability in developing countries.
Author: Armando Barrientos
Publication details and download (external link):
http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/search/973B0F57CA78D834C12576DB003BE255?OpenDocument
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Combating poverty and social exclusion: A statistical portrait of the European Union 2010
New publication of the European Commission
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