Extending Social Security To All

Social security represents an investment in a country's human infrastructure, which is no less important than its physical infrastructure. This book outlines basic concepts such as the social protection floor and the social security staircase, analyses the affordability of various approaches, and examines the results of practices around the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Its second part weighs the pros and cons of conditional cash transfers and, based on a wealth of statistics, argues that effective social transfer programmes not only alleviate poverty, but also improve labour market participation, productivity, nutrition, health care, education, consumption and social inclusion. The overall message is that such investment can benefit poorer countries as well as richer ones, and that even in times of tightened budgets and global economic crisis , the dividends are well worth the expenditure.

Social Security expansion is back on the agenda, at a time when Americans need it more than ever—here’s what it should look like (and why it matters to everyday people all over the country) “Altman and Kingson cut through the fog of calculated confusion and outright lies about Social Security.”—David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author The COVID-19 crisis has pulled the curtain back on America’s looming retirement income crisis, a fraying of the national community, and ever-worsening income inequality. Never before have so many people’s livelihoods and futures been thrown into flux. Now more than ever, expanding Social Security is essential to addressing these challenges. Social Security Works for Everyone!, an evolution of the argument Nancy J. Altman and Eric R. Kingson made in their acclaimed first book, Social Security Works!, presents the case for expanding Social Security, explaining why monthly benefits need to be increased; why Americans need national paid family leave, sick leave, and long term care protections; and how we can pay for it all. Don’t believe the nearly four-decade, billionaire-funded campaign to convince us that the program is destined to collapse. It isn’t. At a time when growing numbers of Americans are seeing beyond the false choice between financial security for working people and financial security for the federal government, this book eloquently makes the case that universal programs that benefit all Americans (yes, even the rich) make our country stronger and our lives more secure. Social Security works because it embodies the best of American values—the ones that will allow Americans to obtain financial security and weather the next crisis.

A growing chorus of prominent voices in Congress and elsewhere are calling for the expansion of our Social Security system—people who know that Social Security will not “go broke” and does not add a penny to the national debt. Social Security Works! will amplify these voices and offer a powerful antidote to the three-decade-long, billionaire-funded campaign to make us believe that this vital institution is destined to collapse. It isn't. From the Silent Generation to Baby Boomers, from Generation X to Millennials and Generation Z, we all have a stake in understanding the real story about Social Security. Critical to addressing the looming retirement crisis that will affect two- thirds of today's workers, Social Security is a powerful program that can help stop the collapse of the middle class, lessen the pressure squeezing families from all directions, and help end the upward redistribution of wealth that has resulted in perilous levels of inequality. All Americans deserve to have dignified retirement years as well as an umbrella to protect them and their families in the event of disability or premature death. Sure to be a game-changer, Social Security Works! cogently presents the issues and sets forth both an agenda and a political strategy that will benefit us all. At stake are our values and the kind of country we want for ourselves and for those that follow.

This paper reviews the main trends and policy issues with regard to the extension of social security in developing countries. It begins by defining the concept of social security, and it examines its linkages with the development process and its impact on poverty reduction. It then reviews the four main social security programmes, i.e. health insurance, pensions, unemployment protection and tax-based social benefits. It shows that in many middle-income countries, statutory social insurance can form the basis for the extension process. However, this is generally not so in the low-income countries, where only a small minority of the population is covered by social security. In particular for these countries, the paper pleads for experimentation with area-based schemes. It also recognizes the need for additional international financing of some basic social security schemes, if coverage is to be extended to everyone over the next 15 to 25 years. The paper also examines the gender dimension of the extension process. The paper concludes with outlining some key elements of national and international strategies. Social security should be recognized as a major instrument to deal with some of the negative social consequences of globalization. National policies should consist of improving and reforming statutory social insurance programmes, of promoting community- and area-based social insurance schemes, and of enhancing cost-effective tax-financed social benefits. At the international level, there is a need for a few simple indicators on social security coverage, for advocacy measures to get social security at the top of the development agenda, for experimentation with new mechanisms to reach workers in the informal economy, as well as for knowledge development and technical assistance. Many of these elements will be included in the "Global campaign on social security and coverage for all" that the ILO is to launch at the beginning of 2003.

This report offers an in-depth overview of the important, and sometimes controversial, issues surrounding social security in a global context: its relationship to employment and development, its extension in terms of personal coverage, and its contribution to gender equality, as well as its financing. Consisting of resolutions and conclusions drawn from the International Labour Conference, 89th Session, 2001, this book contains the report to the conference - prepared for the general discussion on social security and sets out the key topics and priorities for providing and managing social security systems. Global trends in social security expenditure are covered, as the report addresses such pivotal questions as: Is social security facing an ageing crisis? Is it facing a globalization crisis? Has it reached its limits in terms of affordability? The concept of social dialogue, and its part in strengthening and expanding social security, is also discussed and the report considers how family and local solidarity networks, institutions, enterprises, governments and the international community can help enhance the effectiveness of social security. (ILO Website)

The large majority of workers in developing countries are excluded from social security protection. Social Security for the Excluded Majority examines this problem in Benin, China, El Salvador, India, and the United Republic of Tanzania. This book pleads for a participatory approach to the extension of social security and explores ways in which governments and organizations can come together to create practical, workable policies to bring social security protection to all.Through a series of detailed case studies compiled by an international array of policy experts, this book looks closely at the workings of self-financed schemes for informal workers that emerged in the 1990s, and highlights the schemes that have been most beneficial. It focuses on how NGOs, cooperatives, and other social organizations have been able to develop institutions and policies more in line with the requirements and contributory capacity of the informal sector.The authors evaluate various approaches to the extension of formal sector social insurance to informal sector workers, including the self-employed. In addition, they explore how social assistance programs, although often requiring sophisticated administration, can help ensure that benefits reach the population most in need, such as children, the disabled, and the elderly.

Africa is the continent where the greatest proportion of the population does not have access to adequate health care and where the incidence of infant mortality is highest. These are only some of the social risks and adversities being faced in day to day life, but Africa is also the continent where the coverage of social security is at its lowest. Why is this? There is a clear deficit between social security needs and the capacity to meet those needs. And social security schemes have, in most countries, been unsuccessful in reducing this deficit. Many of these schemes are based on concepts, procedures and priorities which were imported by the former colonial powers. Many are aimed at providing social security to formal sector workers who already benefit from a higher level of support. Yet the extension of these schemes to the workers in the informal economy has had limited impact. This paper traces the development of social security in the continent and the links with colonial systems and concepts. It also identifies the elements which influence the development of social security and it highlights some country experiences which illustrate some level of success. The need for effective social security schemes which are both sustainable and relevant to social needs is now being pursued vigorously and has resulted in greater priority being given to on the one hand the participation of the social partners, and on the other hand to innovative approaches. The latter often involve community based initiatives which draw on African traditions of kinship and shared support. In this context, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and its tripartite constituents want to support the development of social security and has launched the Global Campaign on Social Security and Coverage for All in Africa.