Social Protection

Social protection is anchored in the universal right of everyone to social security and to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of themselves and their families. It derives from the principle that no one should live below a certain income level and everyone should have access to basic social services. 

Social protection is a powerful tool for reducing inequalities and building resilience against shocks and crises over the lifecycle. It provides a solid foundation for the realization of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Social protection is therefore explicitly mentioned in four Sustainable Development Goals, related to ending poverty (SDG 1); ensuring health lives (SDG 3): achieving gender equality (SDG 5); and reducing inequalities (SDG 10).

Under SDG Target 1.3 countries have committed to implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable. National social protection floors (ILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202)) should comprise at least the following four social security guarantees:

• access to essential health care, including maternity care;
• basic income security for children, providing access to nutrition, education, care and any other necessary goods and services;
• basic income security for persons in active age who are unable to earn sufficient income, in particular in cases of sickness, unemployment, maternity and disability;
• basic income security for older persons.

Despite remarkable economic and social progress in the Asia-Pacific, critical social protection coverage gaps persist. For instance, 

• Only 21 of 49 countries offer benefits to children and their families, contributing to high levels of stunting, malnutrition and child mortality;
• Only 1 out of 5 unemployed work-age adults receive unemployment benefits;
• Just 3 out of 10 mothers with new-borns receive maternity benefits;
• Less than 4 out of 10 people in the region have access to health care;
• Just over half of all older persons receive an old age pension and less than one third of the labour force is actively contributing to a pension scheme;
• Less than half of all persons with disabilities in the region are covered by a disability benefit or allowance.

Social protection policies need to be grounded in legal frameworks, political commitment and backed by domestic funding. Social protection programmes in the region are often small and fragmented, with limited coordination among actors, which calls for countries to move towards a sector-wide approach combining contributory and non-contributory schemes to holistically provide coverage throughout the life cycle. With 60 per cent of the region’s labour force is in the informal sector, government-financed social protection remains key to ensuring universal social protection coverage. 

To leave no one behind, social protection programmes must be inclusive and provide adequate benefit levels. A universal approach to social protection where benefits are extended to everyone within, for example, an age group, is the best way of reaching those furthest behind. 

With developing countries in Asia and the Pacific only spending about 3.7 per cent of GDP on social protection, compared to the world average of 11.2 per cent, there is also considerable scope to increase investment in social protection to close coverage gaps in the region.