According to the report, 53 per cent of the World’s population have no access to income security while 47 per cent of the World’s population benefit from at least one social protection system. Europe and Central Asia provide 84 per cent of their population with at least one social protection benefit where Africa can cover only 17.4 per cent of its people with social protection.
ILO, in their report, point out the lack of social protection for children and the handicapped. Three out of four children is unprovided with social protection and only 33.5 per cent of people with severe disability have access to disability benefit. As for unemployment, 18.6 per cent of unemployed workers worldwide are covered by unemployment benefits.
Countries allocate 12.8 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on average to social protection. High-income countries are able to spend 16.4 per cent of their GDP on social protection, whereas low-income countries afford to spend 1.1 per cent of their GDP.
The financing gap, by ILO’s definiton, “additional spending required to ensure at least minimum social protection for all” rose by 30 per cent.
Low-income countries must invest an additional US$77.9 billion on social protection per year, lower-middle-income countries US$632.96 billion and upper-middle-income countries must make an additional US$750.8 billion investment per year to secure all their citizens with social protection.
Res.Asst. Batuhan Mert Bozbağ
