More than 4 billion people worldwide are not covered by social security measures in the context of the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. This is stated in a report published by the International Labor Organization (ILO), a specialized agency of the United Nations.
According to experts, only 47% of the world’s population is currently covered by social security, “while 4.1 billion people (53%) do not receive any social security payments at all”. They draw attention to “significant regional inequalities in the field of social protection”. In Europe and Central Asia, 84% of the population is covered by social security, which is the highest percentage in the world. In America this coverage is 64.3%, in the Asia-Pacific region – 44%, in the Arab countries – 40%, and in Africa – 17%.
The data provided in the report show that slightly more than a quarter of children (26.4%) and about a third of people with disabilities (33.5%) in the world enjoy the benefits of social protection, less than half of women (45%) receive childbirth payments and only 18.6% of the unemployed can count on unemployment benefits. As far as pensions are concerned, 77.5% of people who have reached retirement age receive them. According to experts, to fully cover the population with basic social security, low-income countries should invest $ 77.9 billion a year in this area, middle-income countries – $ 362.9 billion, and high-income countries – 750 , $ 8 billion, or 15.9%, 5.1% and 3.1% of their GDP, respectively.
Source: Report of the International Labor Organization
