Social protection

Social protection, as defined by the United Nations Research Institute For

Social Development, is concerned with preventing, managing, and overcoming
situations that adversely affect people's well being. Social protection consists of
policies and programs designed to reduce poverty and vulnerability by
promoting efficient labour markets, diminishing people's exposure to risks, and
enhancing their capacity to manage economic and social risks, such
as unemployment, exclusion, sickness, disability and old age.
The most common types of social protection:
 Labor market interventions are policies and programs designed to
promote employment, the efficient operation of labor markets and the
protection of workers.
 Social insurance mitigates risks associated with unemployment, ill
health, disability, work-related injury and old age, such as health insurance or
unemployment insurance.
 Social assistance is when resources, either cash or in-kind, are transferred
to vulnerable individuals or households with no other means of adequate
support, including single parents, the homeless, or the physically or mentally
challenged.
History of social protection
Traditionally, social protection has been used in the European welfare state and
other parts of the developed world to maintain a certain living standard, and
address transient poverty. One of the first examples of state-provided social
protection can be tracked to the Roman Emperor Trajan, who expanded a
program for free grain to include more poor citizens of the empire. In addition,
he instituted public funds to support poor children. Organized welfare was not
common until the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was during this period
that in both Germany and Great Britain, welfare systems were established to
target the working classes (see National Insurance). The United States followed
several years later, during the Great Depression, with emergency relief for those
struck the hardest. However, modern social protection has grown to envelop a
much broader range of issues and purposes; it is now being used as a policy
approach in developing nations, to address issues of persistent poverty and target
structural causes. Moreover, it is designed to lift recipients out of poverty, rather
than exclusively providing passive protection against contingencies social
protection has rapidly been used in trying to reduce and ultimately eliminate
poverty and suffering in developing countries (mostly in Africa), so to enhance
and promote economic and social growth.
Types of social protection
Labor market Interventions
Labor market interventions, consisting of both active and passive policies,
provide protection for the poor who are capable of gaining employment. Passive
programs, such as unemployment insurance, income support and changes in
labor legislation, allieviate the financial needs of the unemployed but are not
designed to improve their employability. A European Union-funded research as
part of the DRIVERS project revealed a linear relationship between investments
in national active labour market policies (specifically those directed towards
integrating vulnerable groups into employment) and quality of work. It found
that European countries with more active labour market policies seem to have
healthier, less stressed workplaces.
On the other hand, active programs focus on directly increasing the access of
unemployed workers. Active labour market policies (ALMPs) are used to reduce
the risk of unemployment and to increase the earnings capacity of workers.
ALMPs have two basic objectives: (1) economic, by increasing the ability of the
unemployed to find jobs, and increase productivity and earnings; and (2) social,
by improving the inclusion and participation of productive employment. These
programs have the ability to increase employment opportunities and address the
social problems that often accompany high unemployment. Active policies are a
way of reversing the negative effects of industrial restructuring in transition
economies and to help integrate vulnerable people furthest from the labor
markets. ALMPs are often targeted to the long-term unemployed, workers in
poor families, and particular groups with labor market disadvantages. These
programs have important social, as well as economic, objectives. Active labor
market programs include a wide range of activities to stimulate employment and
productivity such as:
 Employment services. These services include counseling, placement
assistance, job matching, labor exchanges, and other related services to
improve the functioning of the labor market.
 Job Training. This includes training/retraining for the unemployed,
workers in mass layoffs and youth to increase the quantity of work supply.
 Direct employment generation The promotion of small and medium
enterprises (e.g., public works projects, subsidies) to increase labor demand.
A common issue in implementing successful labor market interventions is how
to incorporate the informal economy, which comprises a significant portion of
the workforce in developing countries. Informal employment comprises between
half and three quarters of non-agricultural employment in the majority of these
countries. The proportion of informal employment increases when agriculture is
taken into account. Most informal workers are not covered by social security
schemes, occupational safety and health measures, working conditions
regulations and have limited access to health services and work-related measures
of social protection. Labor market interventions work to integrate the different
strategies to prevent and compensate occupational and social risks in the
informal economy. The strategies that include measures to prevent and mitigate
the impact of risks are the most effective.
In general, public expenditure on labor market policy (LMP) interventions falls
within three main categories:
 Labor Market Services (1)
 Total LMP Measures (2-7)
training (2), job rotation & job sharing (3), employment incentives (4),
supported employment & rehabilitation (5), direct job creation (6), start-up
incentives (7),
 Total LMP supports (8-9)
out-of-work income maintenance and support (8), early retirement (9)
Social insurance
Main article: Social insurance
Social insurance schemes are contributory programs that protect beneficiaries
from catastrophic expenses in exchange for regular payments of premiums.
Health costs can be very high, so health insurance schemes are a popular way
reducing risk in the event of shock. However, an individual with low income
may not be able to afford insurance. Some argue that insurance schemes should
be complemented with social assistance. Community-based health insurance
allows pooling in settings where institutional capacity is too weak to organize
nationwide risk-pooling, especially in low-income countries, making insurance
more affordable. In risk-sharing schemes, the insurance premium is unrelated to
the likelihood that the beneficiary will fall ill and benefits are provided on the
basis of need.