The digital platform observatory is a joint initiative of ETUC, IRES and ASTREES, funded by the European Commission. It brings together trade unionists, experts, activists, specialists of workers representation and collective action in the  platform economy.

oecd.org (June 2023) This report presents an in-depth cross-country analysis of how long-term care workers fare along the different dimensions of job quality. In the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the applause for care workers was a clear expression of the strong recognition of their hard work and exposure to risks in their job. However, as the applause faded after the peak of the crisis, questions have re-emerged about how to improve the working conditions of long-term care workers in a sustainable way. Over the coming decades, the demand for these workers will increase substantially. Several countries are already facing shortages as the large baby-boom generation joins the older population. To go Beyond Applause, a comprehensive policy strategy is needed to tackle poor working conditions and insufficient social recognition of long-term care work, attract workers in the sector and avoid labour shortages reaching unacceptable levels. Such a strategy should cover several dimensions, with different priorities across countries depending on their specific context, including: direct interventions to raise wages and increase staff requirements; increasing public financing and fostering the leading role by governments; supporting collective bargaining and social dialogue; strengthening training; increasing use of new technologies; and, strengthening health prevention policies.

This book documents the results and impact of the Social Protection Support Initiative at the UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office. The initiative has been instrumental in advancing the development of evidence-based social protection policies in the region. It was devised with the intention of strengthening the amount of available evidence in the East Asia and Pacific region and has resulted in more than 70 research papers in 23 countries in six regions by the end of the initiative. The book presents a selection of those studies and explores the connection between research and policy development. It is written by individuals who have been actively involved in social protection programmes in their respective countries, including UNICEF staff, researchers, and government officials. It represents UNICEF’s contribution to enhancing the body of available evidence in the East Asia and Pacific region, where there has traditionally been less evidence generated on social protection compared to other regions such as Latin America or Africa. This collection of articles is directed towards readers who are interested in understanding the impact of social protection policies on children's lives and well-being, and the significance of evidence in shaping those policies.

pensionpolicyinternational.com (19.06.2023) A growing number of pension savers would like to see the oil sector completely excluded from their pension fund’s investments. Some 21 per cent of pension savers say they want oil to be axed from their pension, according to a survey from online pension provider PensionBee. This has jumped from 15 per cent of pension savers last year. Alongside oil, the main investments people want excluded from their pensions are companies contributing to deforestation, habitat destruction and predatory lending. Pension savers also believe alcohol and gambling investments pose long-term financial risks to their pension.

UNICEF India (May 2023) This document aims to present a selection of case studies from India and other countries showing how Shock-Responsive Social Protection approaches have been used in response to disasters and shocks, including climate change induced risks and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Shock-Responsive Social Protection can contribute to strengthening disaster risk management along the four key priorities of the Sendai Framework

Gigpedia provides an overview of available information about the global platform economy. You will find information about existing legislation, court cases and ratings of labour standards for specific platforms. The data at Gigpedia was collected by leading research organisations in the field, including WageIndicator, Fairwork and Leeds Index of Platform Labour Protest. This includes Platform Labour Ratings, Platform Case Studies, Repository of Court Cases and Platform Economy News.

New regulations in Singapore will mean some of Asia’s largest fintechs will have to comply with stricter new rules on supporting their gig economy staff. But across the industry worldwide, these employees are missing out on vital access to financial services. Under the new rules, to be implemented from 2024, staff working for the likes of ride-hailing firms Grab and its competitor Gojek will be required to provide pension support and compensation for accidents that happen while working. There are currently more than 73,000 gig economy workers in Singapore. Jeremy Baber, CEO of UK-based prepayment card company Lanistar, says there is a need for greater reform and support for gig economy workers. “There are pros and cons to the gig economy. Obviously, for the individual, that assumed freedom to work when and where they want provides great flexibility, but it comes at a cost,” he says. “We have all seen in the press the varied levels of payment for their service and the lack of basic protection, such as sick pay and maternity pay. There is a fundamental need to balance the benefits to ensure this sector thrives.” 

Among the wide range of possible roles of social insurance, this report aims to explore the potential of social insurance schemes in addressing climate risk and minimizing the impacts of related shocks in Indonesia.

worldbank.org (June 2023) Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, limited work opportunities and low-productivity informal work have played a significant role in increasing poverty and vulnerability in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. While job creation depends on a dynamic, competitive, and vibrant private sector, the new World Bank report, Built to Include: Reimagining Social Protection Systems in the Middle East and North Africa, argues that strong social protection policies are also essential to reducing labor market exclusion by facilitating access to productive employment, protecting workers, and providing a safety net for people that are left behind. However, according to the report, social protection policies in MENA countries are falling short of that role. For example, most of the poor do not receive income support, and most workers are not covered by pensions or unemployment insurance, while labor policies provide limited effective protection to workers and do little to help people gain good jobs. To address these challenges, the report identifies reform priorities to make social protection systems in MENA more inclusive and efficient, including building shock-responsive delivery systems for social protection, expanding income support and opportunities for the poor, expanding social insurance to informal workers, re-designing pension systems to support active ageing, reforming generalized food and energy subsidies, and mobilizing additional revenue for social protection in a progressive manner. But in order to ensure success, garnering political support through clear and consistent communication will be vital, as will the proper packaging and sequencing of reforms.

ids.ac.uk (01.06.2023) The Covid-19 pandemic has re-emphasised the need to ensure equitable access to safe, effective and affordable health services. The very rapid shift to the use of smartphone apps and telephone consultations (telemedicine) has highlighted the potential impact of digital innovations on the capacity of health services to meet this need. It is time to take digital health seriously. In 2021, The Lancet and the Financial Times published a report by a commission of experts entitled Governing health futures 2030: growing up in a digital world. It describes the many ways that digital technologies are affecting health and access to health services (Kickbusch et al. 2021). The report emphasises the changing inter-relationships between the health and digital technology sectors and makes the case for effective governance of digital health. It outlines measures that can be taken to influence the speed and direction of change, with the aims of building trust and ensuring that the needs of poor and vulnerable people are met. Its focus is on global trends and global responses. This report complements that document by focusing on actions that LMICs can take to ensure that digital innovations contribute to their strategies for improving health and access to health services.

The Korea Times (14.06.2023) Income inequality in Korea is likely to accelerate due to a rapidly aging population, according to a report released by the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Wednesday. The report revealed that income inequality among households has worsened by 30 percent over the past 25 years, largely as a result of the aging population. "The aging population is expected to have a significant negative impact on the Korean economy, not only by lowering labor productivity and increasing the burden of care, but also by widening economical inequality," the report noted. Income inequality among those aged over 60 is found to be significantly higher than other age groups. This is because holding assets tend to play a crucial role among individuals over 60, as they see a drastic decrease in earned income after retirement. Korea became an aging society in 2000 when the population aged 65 and over exceeded 7 percent of the total population. The aging trend has accelerated since then, and it is expected that by 2025 one out of five people in the country will be 65 or older.

consilium.europa.eu (12.06.2023) The Council is ready to start negotiations with the European Parliament on a new law that will help millions of gig workers gain access to employment rights. Today, ministers for employment and social affairs agreed on the Council’s general approach for a proposed directive to improve working conditions for platform workers. The proposal introduces two key improvements: it helps determine the correct employment status of people working for digital platforms and establishes the first EU rules on the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace.

News Ghana (10.05.2023) The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has launched the Self-Employed Enrolment Drive (SEED), a product geared towards expanding coverage of the basic national social security scheme to self-employed Ghanaians. Dr John Ofori-Koranteng, Director-General of SSNIT, speaking at the launch of the product in Kumasi, said the aim was to redefine social security in Ghana and give hope to the self-employed to be able to retire in dignity and comfort. In pursuit of this agenda, the management of SSNIT had carried out extensive engagements with various stakeholders across the country, to solicit input and support on how to extend pension coverage to the self-employed.

 OECD iLibrary (May 2023) OECD countries continue to face persistent gender inequalities in social and economic life. Young women often reach higher levels of education than young men, but remain under-represented in fields with the most lucrative careers. Women spend more time on unpaid work, face a strong motherhood penalty, encounter barriers to entrepreneurship and fare worse in labour markets overall. They are also under-represented in politics and leadership positions in public employment. These elements permeate many policy areas and economic sectors – from international trade and development assistance to energy and the environment – in which policy often lacks a strong gender focus. Violence against women, the most abhorrent manifestation of gender inequality, remains a global crisis. This publication analyses developments and policies for gender equality, such as gender mainstreaming and budgeting, reforms to increase fathers’ involvement in parental leave and childcare, pay transparency initiatives to tackle gender pay gaps, and systems to address gender-based violence. It extends the perspective on gender equality to include foreign direct investment, nuclear energy and transport. Advancing gender equality is not just a moral imperative; in times of rapidly ageing populations, low fertility and multiple crises, it will strengthen future gender-equal economic growth and social cohesion.

oecd.org (2023) This second edition of Health at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean, prepared jointly by OECD and the World Bank, presents a set of key indicators of health status, determinants of health, healthcare resources and utilisation, healthcare expenditure and financing, quality of care, health workforce, and ageing across 33 Latin America and the Caribbean countries. Each of the indicators is presented in a user-friendly format, consisting of charts illustrating variations across countries, and over time, brief descriptive analyses highlighting the major findings conveyed by the data, and a methodological box on the definition of the indicators and any limitations in data comparability. This edition of Health at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean also provides thematic analyses on two key topics for building more resilient health in the LAC region: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on LAC healthcare systems, and climate change and health.

IOM (Janv 2023) This report interrogates country-of-origin measures to extend social protection and broader-based support services to African migrant workers abroad. It reflects on the challenges faced by international migrants in accessing social protection and welfare support, and notes that in many respects and for a variety of reasons, African migrant workers are not able to access meaningful social protection – despite the human rights framework normatively informing the protection of migrant workers.  Note is taken of the important role of bilateral and multilateral agreements, but also of purely country-of-origin measures in the absence of any other meaningful modality of support. Particular attention is paid to the weak social (security) protection received by most African migrant workers in the Gulf countries. The social protection extended by six African countries, representing three African regions, to their workers abroad is reflected upon – particularly in terms of the supportive arrangements developed for this purpose. These are considered in light of the treatment in social security/protection terms enjoyed by (im)migrant workers in these and selected other countries, and against best practice examples.

worldbank.org (2023) As the world struggles to cope with global economic imbalances, diverging demographic trends, and climate change, migration will become a necessity in the decades to come for countries at all levels of income. If managed well, migration can be a force for prosperity and can help achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. World Development Report 2023 proposes an integrated framework to maximize the development impacts of cross-border movements on both destination and origin countries and on migrants and refugees themselves.

guardian.ng (25.04.2023) Individuals across the globe, especially in developed countries, are aging at an unprecedented pace, making many countries increasingly reliant on migration to realise their long-term growth potential, says a new report from the World Bank. The ‘World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees and Societies’ identifies this trend as a unique opportunity to make migration work better for economies and people.

Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 296 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in February 2023 and provides metadata for each entry, such as geographical scope, year, type of initiative, actors involved, sector and companies concerned. Initiatives include legal instruments such as legislative changes or court decisions, as well as voluntary interventions undertaken by different stakeholders to address issues around platform work.

un.org (2023) Population ageing is a defining global trend of our time. People are living longer, and more are older than ever before. Spectacular improvements in health and survival and reductions in fertility have driven this momentous shift, which has begun or is expected to begin soon in all countries and areas. This change brings both challenges and opportunities as countries strive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2022, the world marked the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing. To commemorate this landmark, the World Social Report 2023 explores the economic and social implications of the ageing of the human population. It builds on the Plan of Action’s framework for national policies to create equitable, inclusive societies for people of all ages, providing recommendations to put the rights and well-being of older persons at the centre, across the life course. Population ageing is an inevitable result of the demographic transition towards longer lives and smaller families. While the shift towards older populations is largely irreversible, collective actions and policy decisions shape its path and consequences. Postponing critical measures that allow societies to benefit from and adapt to population ageing would impose high social, economic, fiscal and health-related costs, for both current and future generations. By contrast, with appropriate foresight and planning, Governments can manage the challenges from population ageing while enhancing opportunities for all people to thrive and ensuring that no one is left behind. As elaborated in this report, population ageing needs to be widely understood as more than just a set of discrete concerns mainly for one group of people who have advanced beyond a given age. Ageing touches all parts of economies and societies, from health care and education to employment and taxation. Each stage of life can contribute to or detract from well-being at older ages. Download the Executive Summary of the R

Climate Risk Management (2023) Climate change is transforming the risks individuals and households face, with potentially profound socioeconomic consequences such as increased poverty, inequality, and social instability. Social protection is a policy tool that governments use to help individuals and households manage risks linked to income and livelihoods, and to achieve societal outcomes such as reducing poverty and inequality. Despite its potential as a policy response to climate change, the integration of social protection within the climate policy agenda is currently limited. While the concept of risk is key to both sectors, different understandings of the nature and scope of climate change impacts and their implications, as well as of the adequacy of social protection instruments to address them, contribute to the lack of policy and practice integration.

Sciences Po (14.04.2023) La réforme des retraites 2023, un sujet qui est au cœur de l’actualité et des préoccupations des citoyens depuis des mois. Une conférence organisée le 5 avril 2023 à Sciences Po a réuni des chercheuses et chercheurs de différentes disciplines s. Ce moment riche de la diversité des perspectives apportées par les intervenants et des questions du public a été l’occasion de revenir sur l’histoire des retraites en France et en comparaison avec les pays européens. Il a également permis de confronter les hypothèses macro et microéconomiques de cette réforme, d'examiner les inégalités qu’elle peut renforcer et ce que cette retraite dit de la valeur et du sens du travail. 

politico.eu (21.04.2023) The present and future of retirement ages across the Continent, in figures and charts.