Social Protection for all - ANRSP position on Social Protection

The world of work is rapidly changing following demographic evolution, globalization of production, digital economy and automation, urbanization, workers mobility and increase of non-standard employment (precarious contracts, on call work, etc) . Young ‘millenialmillennial’ generations will comprise 50% of the workforce in 2020 with a new behavior and mindset to adapt the changing nature of work. More women are entering the workplace and more people are working from home. New types of job which never existed before will be created, such as green jobs. The role of the government in providing social services to the people has been reduced in many countries and it is being replaced by private actors who commercially provide all kinds of services ranging from health insurance to pension funds for those who can afford them. Poverty and migration have provided an army of people who are willing to work any type of jobs at any wage, which undermines the existing social protection, and weakens the workers’ bargaining position.

According to the ILO World Social Protection Report 2017-2019, only 45% of the global population (38,9% in the Asia–Pacific region) is covered by at least one social protection benefit. The right to health is not yet a reality in many countries, especially in rural areas. Large coverage gaps remain for child and family benefits, maternity and unemployment protection and disability allowances. Lack of social protection leaves people vulnerable to poverty, inequality and social exclusion across the life cycle. Coverage gaps are associated with significant underinvestment in social protection. In the Asia-Pacific region, government expenditure for social protection to GDP is only 4.6%, compared to Western Europe’s 18.1%. Asia is young but is expected to age considerably in the next 15 years. While poverty is declining across Asia, a majority of workers are still working in the informal economy, with long working hours, low income and without social protection. Extending social protection and its benefits, and improving workers’ job quality will be among Asia’s major challenges in the future.
However, there are good practices of social policies in many Asian countries where they have started to introduce various schemes of social protection ranging from universal health care, unemployment benefits, work injuries, old-age pensions, maternity protection, and other schemes. The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration has recognized Social Protection as a human right. The Social Protection Floor Recommendation of the ILO has guided social policies in Asia to guarantee access to a nationally defined set of goods and services, basic income security for children, person in active age who are unable to earn sufficient income and for older people. It provides a base to progressively develop more extensive social protection. Given the many challenges and gaps remaining to fully implement and guarantee comprehensive social protection for everyone, current policies will need to be improved and upgraded.  We should maintain and fully implement the principles of Social Protection that are globally agreed by the world’s leading organization on social protection standards, such as the ILO Convention 102 and Recommendation 202. These and other human rights treaties and declarations clearly state Social Protection is a universal Human Right. It is also well integrated in 5 places in the Sustainable Development Goal’s. In an uncertain world, social protection is needed more than ever.

With a rights based approach, people are the ‘right holders’ of social protection and therefore can make a claim to that right – instead of being mere beneficiaries. The state should guarantee, respect and protect this right and make sure it can be implemented. Therefore, the government must embed social protection in national laws and legislations.

Social protection should be a common for all people, similar to health or education . It should be solidarity based. It should strengthen solidarity between young generation and elderly, ill and healthy, rich and poor. Social protection prevents and reduces social exclusion and inequality as well as poverty and vulnerability. Therefore, society should reject flex-security which is undermining income security, and the commercialization  of social protection, health services, essential medication and education.

Social protection should play a key role in ensuring income security, generating and redistributing wealth, facilitating structural change within economies and labor markets, as well as contributing to inclusive and sustainable economic  development. In order to achieve comprehensive Social Protection for all, it must cover a whole range of measures of prevention, protection, promotion and transformation.

Public expenditure on social protection needs to be increased to extend social protection coverage and benefits to bring people out of poverty and insecurity. Financing Social protection is feasible and affordable even for the poorest countries. Therefore, financing social protection is more about political choice rather than budgeting capacity.

In Asia, a significant numbers of workers in informal and precarious work are not covered by social protection and therefore more efforts are needed to extend coverage of social protection to them. The state should facilitate the transition of workers from the informal economy to the formal economy and prevent precariousness. Domestic work and (long-term) care work for elderly or sick people – often underappreciated, unpaid or voluntary - should be integrated into the social protection system. Portable social security should be promoted to cover workers’ mobility and migrant workers.
Social protection should also be innovative and adaptive enough to use technology to reach people working in new types of jobs which will be created in the future, such as ‘platform’ workers and self-employed. The state must invest in health and education especially for young workers, and prepare workers by Just Transition for these new types of jobs, such as green jobs.

Indicators on social protection at national, regional (ASEAN, SAARC) and intra-regional (ASEM) level are imperative to monitor the progress. In the region, ASEAN can be an example through the developed ASEAN Framework and Action Plan, ongoing work to develop such indicators, as well as extending migrant workers access to social protection .

Various stakeholders have their role to play to set up and implement the social protection system. The government must recognize and support the work of social movements with regards to social protection and establish structural dialogue mechanisms with all stakeholders. The unique tripartite mechanism of the ILO allows trade unions to participate in the structural dialogue regarding social protection.

We believe that social protection can structurally change the power relations in society. We should organize and empower people, help to develop initiatives of social protection, participate in the structural dialogue and safeguard the principles of social protection for all. What we do at local level should contribute to major changes in society, therefore we need a new way of organizing, defining common interests and strategies, and break down boundaries between progressive forces. People have the right to Social Protection, and we should help to make it reality.