Social Security

In most countries, there are formal social security systems which are based on a package of preventive measures. The nature and extent of the benefits and services provided can vary, but the principle always remains the same: to protect people if they lose (a part of ) their income. According
to ILO Convention 102, which establishes the Minimum Standards for Social Security, a general system of social security must cover the risks of illness, unemployment, motherhood, accidents at work, old age, etc.

In most industrialised countries, these existing modern social security systems were developed
in consultation with the social partners after the Second World War. In developing countries, there are also such systems, but they cover fewer risks and the workers of the informal sector as well as the rural population are usually excluded, even though they constitute the majority of the working population.

Although governments bear the overall responsibility for the social security system, they manage these systems together with the social partners (tripartite management). As a result of their involvement in the system, trade unions are extremely well placed to demand that the social security system be expanded to cover workers in the informal economy and from rural areas. This has happened recently in Indonesia or in Nepal. They can also facilitate the adhesion of their members to government schemes.

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