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Title | Abstract | Tags | Topics | Regions / Country | |
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Au Danemark, l’âge de la retraite passera à 70 ans en 2040 | pmassetti | lemonde.fr (22.05.2025) Le Parlement danois a adopté, jeudi, une loi relevant l’âge légal de départ à la retraite, aujourd’hui à 67 ans. Depuis la réforme de 2006, celui-ci est indexé sur l’espérance de vie et révisé tous les cinq ans. | Pensions | ||
Ghana : SSNIT bets on mobile money to drive accessibility | pmassetti | The Social Security and National Insurance Trust is betting on the widely used mobile money to improve pension accessibility and convenience, as it deepens its digital transformation strategy to reach a broader base of contributors. With mobile money transaction volumes and values surging to record highs in 2024, SSNIT is integrating mobile money platforms into its service delivery model. The aim is to make pension-related services more accessible to informal sector workers and the broader population who already use mobile wallets daily for payments and remittances. “Almost everyone in Ghana today uses mobile money,” said Kwesi Afreh Biney, Director-General of SSNIT, during the Trust’s 52nd branch launch on the Spintex road in Accra. | |||
US: Morningstar study on long-term care costs gets pushback from think tank | pmassetti | investmentnews.com (21.05.2025) A new Morningstar report warns that long-term care expenses could dramatically undermine the financial readiness of American retirees.But the study expert, who argues the analysis exaggerates households' actual exposure to those costs. "The Overlooked Cost: How Long-Term Services and Supports Impacts Retirement-Income Adequacy" Morningstar researchers Spencer Look and Jack VanDerhei used a proprietary model to simulate the retirement outcomes of American households under two conditions: one that includes long-term services and supports, or LTSS, and another that assumes those costs are fully covered by outside sources. The findings from the Morningstar Center for Retirement & Policy Studies published last week suggest that the inclusion of LTSS costs increases the share of households projected to deplete their retirement resources from 26 percent to 41 percent. | Long-term care | United States | |
Exploring the harsh realities of app-based workers in sub-Saharan Africa | pmassetti | A groundbreaking report has revealed the harsh realities faced by app-based transport and delivery workers across sub-Saharan Africa, accusing digital platforms of systematically undermining decent work standards. Titled “Decent Work in the Platform Sector: A Grassroots Report from Sub-Saharan Africa”, the study draws on testimonies from workers from Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, and South Africa and exposes precarious working conditions, unfair pay, and a lack of labour protections. The report, which | |||
In Rapidly Aging South Korea, the Economy Is Slow in Creating “Age-Friendly” Jobs | pmassetti | stanford.edu (19.05.2025) Despite the nation’s rapidly aging demographics, South Korea's economy has not adapted as well as the United States, a new study finds. The researchers, including Stanford health economist and director of the Asia Health Policy Program at APARC Karen Eggleston, show that age-friendly jobs attract a broad range of workers and that structural barriers in the labor market influence which groups can access these roles. | Old-age pensions | korea, Republic of | |
Telangana Plans Gig Workers Act: Bill Proposes Welfare Fund, Job Security, and Penalties | pmassetti | deccanherald.com (15.04.2025) The legislation will establish a dedicated board and welfare fund for gig workers. All aggregators and platforms must register with the board within 45 days of the Act’s commencement. The board will maintain and publish a register of all aggregators operating in the state on its web portal. | Labour protection mechanisms | india | |
Germany struggles to fix its pension system | pmassetti | DW (05/12/2025) Germany's aging population is putting the country's pension system under strain. The new Labor Minister Bärbel Bas has ruffled feathers with a proposal for how to fix it. | Pensions | germany | |
Setting the foundation for quality management in home- and community-based long-term care | pmassetti | who.int (08.05.2025) This technical brief addresses the growing gap between the rapid expansion of home- and community-based long-term care (LTC) services and the slower development of regulatory frameworks for quality management in these settings. While such services are essential for supporting older people to age in place and remain engaged in their communities, it is increasingly urgent to ensure that care is safe, appropriate and person-centred. Drawing on international evidence and national and regional case studies across Europe, the brief outlines key quality standards and proposes indicators for monitoring progress. It also reviews quality assurance mechanisms for evaluating compliance and promoting high standards of care, as well as strategies for incentivizing care providers to engage in continuous quality improvement. | Long-term care | ||
China’s experience in pursuing universal health coverage | pmassetti | International Labour Organization (30.05.2025) China’s experience in pursuing universal health coverage: In recent years, China has made significant strides in extending health coverage. This technical report systematically summarizes China’s experience developing and strengthening its health system towards universal health protection. The report provides a clear picture of the recent evolution of the health system in China in the last decades and highlights remaining challenges. This technical report provides valuable insights for other countries to explore the possibility of universal health coverage and contribute to the advancement of global health protection. | universal health coverage | Health | china |
Publication: Working Toward Better Health: Expanding Community Health Services in Mozambique | pmassetti | worldbank.org (05.05.2025) In low-income countries, formal health systems are stretched thin, and rural and underserved areas often lack adequate primary healthcare coverage, delaying essential interventions and leaving populations vulnerable to preventable diseases. Mozambique was no exception. The country had particularly poor health outcomes among its peers, with high rates of stunting (40%) and malnutrition, as well as one of the highest rates of child marriage and adolescent fertility in the world. Its share of deaths from communicable diseases and maternal, perinatal, and nutritional conditions was 62% – three times the global average. Only half of births were attended by a skilled professional, and the neonatal mortality rate was 27.9 per 1,000 live births. But the problem went beyond reach and access: providers had weak competencies, clinical guidelines were often not adhered to, and there were high levels of dropout for child immunization. To improve health outcomes, Mozambique would have to increase both coverage and quality of service. | Health | mozambique | |
The Care Dividend | pmassetti | The Care Dividend Why and How Countries Should Invest in Long-Term Care | |||
Italy moves to restore healthcare access for citizens abroad – but at a price | pmassetti | Euractiv (18.04.2025) Supporters argue the measure would encourage more Italians abroad to formally register with AIRE, putting an end to widespread avoidance. | Health | italy | |
Delivering shock-responsive social protection in the Sahel: Urban social cash transfer response amid rising food inflation – Lessons from Nouakchott, Mauritania | pmassetti | World Food Programme (11.04.2025) In 2023, people in Nouakchott, Mauritania, experienced a steep increase in the cost of food and an overall upward rise in the cost of living, putting many at risk of acute food insecurity and malnutrition as they struggled to meet their basic needs. WFP responded by working with the Government of Mauritania to pilot the extension of one of the country’s national shock-responsive social safety net programmes - El Maouna - to households in the Mauritanian capital. | Shocks & extreme events | mauritania | |
Publication: Participation in Pension Programs in Low- and Middle-Income Countries | pmassetti | worldbank.org (24.04.2025) Low- and middle-income countries are aging rapidly but stagnation of growth in participation in pension programs, due to widespread informal employment, presents a major fiscal challenge. Some claim that improving the design of pension program rules can encourage more pension contributions, while others push for universal non-contributory pensions. This paper reviews the recent academic literature on the determinants of active participation in pension systems in high- informality settings. An emerging body of evidence shows that participation responds significantly to financial incentives as well as nonfinancial obstacles. At the same time, pensions are imperfect substitutes for other strategies to cover longevity risk, including support through the family, which will remain crucial for many older people in fiscally constrained environments. Therefore, policy makers should integrate the design of contributory pensions, social pensions, and policies that facilitate other forms of elderly support and consider how all three interact. To inform such efforts, these interactions must be more systematically investigated, and the empirical evidence must be expanded beyond a small number of middle-income countries. | Pensions | ||
Revolutionizing health and safety: The role of AI and digitalization at work | pmassetti | ilo.org (23.04.2025) Digitalization and automation are transforming millions of jobs worldwide, creating powerful opportunities to enhance occupational safety and health. Automation and smart monitoring systems can reduce hazardous exposures, prevent injuries and improve overall working conditions. However, these advances also bring new potential risks that require proactive and adaptive policy responses. | Safety and health at work | ||
Publication: The Road to Reforming Ethiopia’s Policies on Maternity and Paternity Leave | pmassetti | worldbank.org (17.04.2025) This brief provides insight into how Ethiopia increased the duration of paid maternity leave from 90 to 120 days and introduced three days of paid paternity leave in 2019. While ensuring job-protected leave of adequate length and pay for both parents is critical for a variety of health, economic, and social development outcomes, just slightly more than half of economies in the Sub-Saharan Africa region provide paid maternity and paternity leave. The brief highlights specific characteristics of Ethiopia’s socioeconomic environment that incentivized the reform. It explores the critical role of political momentum and tripartite negotiations among the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions, Ethiopian Employers’ Federation, and the government, coupled with persistence by the country’s trade unions, that led to the adoption of the reform. It outlines key lessons learned that could be useful to other countries seeking to enhance their own leave policies for parents. It also describes remaining challenges to the implementation and presents recommendations on how to address these challenges to improve gender equality in Ethiopia. | Parental leave | ethiopia | |
Le Maroc sous le choc après le piratage de la Sécurité sociale : « Bienvenue en enfer où tout le monde sait combien gagne son voisin ! » | pmassetti | lemonde-fr (14.04,2025) Dès 2020, un journal local avait rapporté l’existence d’une « inquiétante faille de sécurité » au sein de la CNSS, dont les dispositifs de protection n’ont pas su empêcher le vol et la diffusion, le 8 avril, des attestations de salaire d’environ 2 millions d’affiliés. | Information and communication technology | morocco | |
Making social protection work for gender equality: What does it look like? How do we get there? | pmassetti | International Labour Organization (24.12.2024) This paper outlines the perspective and approach of the ILO’s Universal Social Protection Department to enhancing the gender-responsiveness of social protection policies, anchored in international social security standards and guided by a life-cycle approach to system-building. | Gender equality | ||
State of Social Protection Report 2025: The 2-Billion-Person Challenge | pmassetti | Social protection goes well beyond cash transfers; it includes policies and programs that bridge skill, financial, and information gaps, aiding people in securing better jobs. The three pillars of social protection—social assistance, social insurance, and labor market programs—support households and workers in handling crises, escaping poverty, facing transitions, and seizing employment opportunities. But despite a substantial expansion over the past decade, 2 billion people remain uncovered or inadequately covered across low- and middle-income countries. Drawing from administrative and household survey data from the World Bank’s Atlas of Social Protection Indicators of Resilience and Equity (ASPIRE), the "State of Social Protection Report 2025: The 2-Billion-Person Challenge" documents advances and challenges to strengthening social protection and labor systems across low- and middle-income countries, analyzing the evolution of expenditure, coverage, and adequacy of support. This report details four policy action areas governments can embrace to maximize the benefits of adequate social protection for all: extending social protection to those in need; strengthening the adequacy of social protection support; building shock-proof social protection systems; and optimizing social protection financing. The report discusses how the path of reforms will depend on country context, capacity, and fiscal space. The rising frequency of shocks and crises calls for major investments in the adaptability and preparedness of social protection and labor systems. Amid a world in transition, social protection is more important and necessary than ever. | |||
Adaptive Social Protection Agenda Lessons from Responses to COVID-19 Shock: The State of Social Protection Report 2025 Background Paper #2 | pmassetti | worldbank.org (09.04.2025) The paper examines the social protection response to the COVID-19 pandemic across 76 emerging and developing economies (EDEs) to identify lessons on how to make these systems more resilient against risks, shocks, and crises at the individual, household, or national level. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered significant expansions in social protection systems across EDEs, with responses varying based on countries’ existing infrastructure and income levels. The analysis of 76 EDEs revealed that countries used approximately 37 percent of their social protection programs to respond to COVID-19, with social assistance programs being the most frequently used response (73 percent of total programs). EDEs increased their real per capita social protection spending by an average of 28 percent, with low-income countries (LICs) and high-income countries (HICs) showing the largest increases at around 40 percent and 32 percent, respectively. The effectiveness of responses was strongly correlated with preexisting social protection systems, economic conditions, labor market factors, and digital infrastructure. Countries with more developed social protection systems, formal labor markets, and digital payment infrastructure before the pandemic were better positioned to rapidly scale up their responses, highlighting the importance of maintaining robust routine social protection programs and delivery systems to enable effective crisis response. | Shocks & extreme events | ||
Country profiles on the rights and wellbeing of older persons: a how-to-guide from the Arab region | pmassetti | HelpAge International (22.03.2025) A practical guide to developing and using country profiles on the rights and wellbeing of older persons in the Arab region, based on HelpAge and UNFPA’s experience across 18 countries. | Old-age pensions | arabic countries | |
Towards a European Framework for Quality in Social Services | pmassetti | Social services play a crucial role in supporting individuals and communities across Europe, but ensuring consistent quality standards remains a challenge. The European Social Network (ESN) is leading efforts to develop a renewed European Social Services Quality Framework, designed to address current challenges and set clear, practical, and measurable quality standards. What does this briefing cover? Why a new framework is needed – examining the limitations of the 2010 EU Voluntary Framework and why many countries have not adopted it. Key principles of quality social services – including human rights, person-centered care, community-based support, safety, and effective management. Draft quality standards – structured using I-Statements and We-Statements to reflect the perspectives of both service users and providers. Research & development process – insights from 18 countries, incorporating feedback from public authorities, quality agencies, researchers, and people using social services. Implementation recommendations – practical steps providers can take to meet the proposed standards. Next steps – how the framework will be finalized in 2025 and its expected impact on social services across Europe. This briefing provides essential insights for public regulators, policymakers, service providers, and quality assurance | Service quality | Europe | |
English Version of "Long-term Care Tech Portal" Newly Launched, Introducing Latest Care and Age Tech in Japan | pmassetti | finance.yahoo.com (24.03.2025) The long-term care robot portal site management office released the English version of the Long-term Care Tech Portal (https://robotcare.jp/en/home/index?type=pw), a portal site providing information on state-of-the-art care and age tech in Japan. The portal site provides a wide range of information on long-term care technology with the aim of promoting its development and utilization in nursing care sites. The office has launched an English site for overseas visitors in order to introduce Japan's latest technologies. Visitors can learn how these technologies are being used in Japan's super-aged society. The sponsor of this site is the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development | Long-term care | japan | |
The Care Dividend: Why and How Countries Should Invest in Long-Term Care | pmassetti | eurohealthobservatory.who.int (03.04.2025) Long-term care often falls by the wayside in national policy dialogues. In some countries cultural norms compel families to look after older people at home. Some pundits may look at rising health care costs and argue that the public sector cannot shoulder more care responsibilities by expanding access to long-term care. Public long-term care systems are best placed to meet the needs of the present and the future than families. Yet in most countries, chronic underinvestment has left formal long-term care systems bereft of the resources needed to meet existing needs, let alone those of the future. Against this backdrop, the aim of this book is to set out the arguments, grounded in theory and evidence, for increased public investment in high-quality, universally accessible long-term care. Strong long-term care systems benefit everyone: households, economies, health systems, and societies. Experts from around the world provide a compelling case for why and how governments can (and should) take action. | Long-term care | ||
Undeclared care work in the EU: Policy approaches to a complex socioeconomic challenge | pmassetti | eurofound.europa.eu (25.03.2025) The scale of undeclared care work (paid care work that is lawful but not declared to public authorities) in the EU is considerable. Recent estimates suggest that 6.8 million undeclared workers provide care or household services across the EU, with 2.1 million specifically in the care sector. Undeclared care workers are predominantly women and often are migrants. They have poor working conditions and limited social protection and are at a heightened risk of exploitation. This report examines undeclared care work in the EU, its characteristics and the challenges faced by people working in this sector. It briefly describes the complex drivers of undeclared care work and presents a range of policy responses implemented across the EU to tackle it. The findings underscore the need for a comprehensive policy framework that not only addresses immediate enforcement challenges but also tackles structural barriers to formalisation while ensuring good working conditions and social protection for care workers | Difficult-to-cover groups | Europe |