wtwco.com (19.05.2022)  Trial private retirement savings system to be rolled out in select cities in China in an effort to support an aging population.

worldbank.org (10.02.2022)  The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated poverty and threatened livelihoods in Liberia. The need to respond to this challenge spurred the expansion and digitization of the government’s ongoing cash transfer program. The Liberia Social Safety Nets Project launched the government’s first-ever urban cash transfer program. It provided emergency cash transfers for close to 15,000 households living in vulnerable communities in the Greater Monrovia area, which had recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Liberia. These households received the cash transfers in their mobile wallet accounts. Importantly, up to 70 percent of cash recipients were women.

Global Times (21.04.2022) China will soon start a new era of "private pensions" with the imminent implementation of a relevant mechanism, according to a report by the Shanghai Securities News published on Wednesday. The new mechanism, which is characterized by policy support from the government, voluntary participation and market-oriented operations, will be an important transformation of the current pension system that has a basic pension insurance and a corporate pension. According to the report, those who contribute to the basic pension insurance for workers in cities and towns, as well as in the life insurance system for urban and rural residents can participate in the private pension system.

World Economic Forum  (17.05.2022) China is a rapidly graying country with those aged 60 or above reaching 267 million or 18.9% of the total population, and this may rise to one-third of the population before 2050. Welfare reform must work in tandem with social policy so as to make active aging an integral part of economic growth, linking health to wealth and common prosperity. Healthcare, labour reskilling and gender parity are three areas of focus for domestic policy to solve the challenges of China’s aging population.

Economic Research Forum (ERF) (February 2022) This policy brief assesses the impact of COVID-19 on Middle East and North Africa (MENA) labor markets through June 2021. We use data from the four waves of the ERF COVID-19 MENA monitor household surveys, spanning November 2020, February 2021, April 2021, and June 2021. We focus on Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia and developments between February 2021 and June 2021. Retrospective data on February 2020 labor market outcomes allows us to compare pre-pandemic conditions to the results of the multiple waves, facilitating study of the evolution of challenges in the labor market. 

developmentpathways.co.uk (2022)  The report builds on our previous research with ITUC, showing the economic benefits of social protection by examining the different financing options that states have at their disposal in order to strengthen and extend their social protection systems. The study simulates the effects of different tax financing scenarios for social protection on household income, employment and overall GDP. We carried out computable general equilibrium analysis for Bangladesh, Colombia, Costa Rica, Georgia, Ghana, India, Rwanda and Serbia.

europeansting.com (06.05.2022) China’s plan to “gradually delay” the country’s legal retirement age has managed to unify a wide variety of people around a single sentiment: they don’t like it. As a country looking for ways to address the fact that it may not have enough workers paying into its pension system to support an ageing population, however, China is far from alone. In more than half of the 38 OECD member states, some of the most prosperous nations on Earth, normal retirement age is expected to increase by the time young people now entering the workforce depart during their silver years, according to one projection.

theconversation.com (26.04.2022) So low is Australia’s unemployment rate, the official count says there are now just 580,300 people unemployed – the least since 2009, when Australia’s population was one-sixth smaller than it is today. Compared to just before the start of the pandemic, 184,800 fewer Australians are now unemployed.

Retirement saving is at the centre of the debate on rising income and wealth inequality. This column studies the role of the pension system in wealth accumulation and distribution in Denmark. The authors find that a pension reform in the late 1980s increased the savings rate and aggregate pension assets significantly by introducing mandated funded pensions. Moreover, it has had an equalising effect on the wealth distribution. The findings illustrate the importance of pension system design for the level and distribution of wealth. 

weforum.org (31.03.2022) All 13 Canadian provinces and territories have now signed up to the plan which will also create a national daycare system. 

brookings.edu (27.05.2022) The COVID-19 recession was born out of a public health threat. Thus, unemployment insurance (UI) was meant to insure people against income losses associated not just with involuntary job loss, as in a usual recession, but also with the choice not to work due to the public health risk.

 International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) (March 2020) Children and adolescents are exposed to a multitude of risks, which have worsened due to the socio-economic repercussions of COVID-19. This emphasises the need to improve the protection of children and adolescents, who already faced greater poverty rates than other age groups before the crisis. This One Pager discusses universal cash transfers in Latin America and the Caribbean.

brookings.edu (03.05.2022) Pension systems around the world faced a “stress test” during the pandemic—what you might call the “pension pandemic paradox.” On the one hand, there was pressure to allow access to pension savings as emergency support during a period of sharp economic downturn. This was understandable, since for many people pension savings are their biggest financial asset. But, in some countries, this turned into unprecedented access beyond immediate emergency needs and put the pension savings system at risk.

oecd.org (March 2022) This document provides an update on the use of job retention (JR) schemes during the COVID-19 crisis until the end of 2021 and takes stock of the different strategies employed by OECD governments to adjust them as the crisis evolved. It provides three key insights. First, since reaching a peak of 20% of employment in April/May 2020 on average across OECD countries, the use of JR support has declined to 1.3% in November/December 2021. Second, countries have used different approaches to adjust temporary JR provisions during the course of the crisis, with some phasing them out, some providing increasingly targeted support and others keeping temporary measures unchanged. Third, JR schemes have tended to become more targeted by directing support towards jobs in firms that had been affected most by the pandemic, but remained viable in the medium term. A majority of countries now require co‑financing by firms for hours not worked under these schemes in contrast to the start of the crisis when most countries exempted firms from subsidising the costs associated with hours not worked.

GovInsider (April 2022)  Yet, advancements in healthcare and sanitation standards are helping adults live longer than ever before. Taiwan, in particular, is estimated to become a super-aged society by 2025, with one in five being over 65 years old, said Dr Jenny Su Huey-Jen, President of the National Cheng Kung University (NCKU). To better support the seniors in its population, Taiwan is building a new geriatric hospital. Su shares how this hospital will better provide healthcare services to an ageing population. AI as a healthcare companion for remote care The NCKU Geriatric Hospital will not just be restricted to one building. Instead, it hopes to become “a hospital without walls”, says Su. Tech such as AI, robotics, and wearable devices will connect doctors and patients, and engage elderly patients remotely. For instance, AI helps doctors better communicate with their elderly patients. Taiwan is also creating an AI robot which can interact with and accompany elderly when they are outside the hospital. This robot analyses the elderly’s medical records, reminds them to take their medication, and measures their blood sugar levels, shares Su. The robot also helps doctors give more timely diagnosis and monitor patients. It is able to combine the physiological data of patients and upload it to the cloud, where doctors can view it remotely. This allows them to detect any abnormalities and immediately give a diagnosis, Su explains.

Asian Development Bank (April 2022) The brief discusses how an array of tax reforms over time, both in policy and administration, could allow more progressive structures and improved revenue performance. It notes that tax structures could be improved through broader tax bases, especially better inclusion of capital and self-employment income in personal income taxes, allowing more progressive personal income taxation. It also discusses stronger corporate taxation, increased use of property and wealth taxes, and better-designed value-added tax and excises.

Pension Policy International (April 2022) The Japanese government is reportedly discussing plans to expand the coverage of its employee pensions and health insurance programs to all workers in the country. The proposal will be initially handled by a government panel of experts on Japan’s social security system for all generations, The Japan Times reported. In June, Tokyo plans to decide on the direction for the insurance system covering all workers and have it reflected in its honebuto, or basic economic and fiscal policy guidelines. This follows the enactment of several pension reform laws in May 2020. By October 2024, the government plans to expand the public pension programme to employees of all businesses with 51 or more personnel. The current minimum staff requirement is 501. This round of discussions will be to determine whether the employee pension system can be expanded to include all workers, regardless of company size. The expert panel recommended that the government provide universal pension and insurance coverage for workers. The panel said that the pension programme must be reformed to include employees of small businesses, as well as freelancers and gig workers.

ESCWA (April 2022)  Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, social protection systems in the Arab region were weak, fragmented, not inclusive, and non-transparent. They were also costly and unsustainable. Underinvestment in these systems and exclusion of vulnerable populations were key challenges. The COVID-19 crisis spotlighted the problems and presented a historic opportunity to address some of the challenges facing social protection systems. Lessons learned in various countries were identified as useful examples for change, in addition to certain innovations. This report embarked on actionable policy research to examine and assess the interplay of the social policy dimensions, global experiences, and regional responses to the pandemic in the Arab region. By critically engaging with the actions and priorities of a variety of stakeholders, the report develops and advocates for policies for the judicious and methodical implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, combating inequality and supporting the principle of leaving no one behind, as instigated in the Agenda 2030.

The Dutch tax authority ruined thousands of lives after using an algorithm to spot suspected benefits fraud — and critics say there is little stopping it from happening again.

worldbank.org (31.03.2022) The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fundamental role digital ecosystems can play in helping a country to rapidly deliver services and relief to its people, such as healthcare education, and social assistance. Countries that already had in place the “stack” of digital IDs, digital payments, and data sharing platforms, were better prepared to respond to the pandemic and to maintain continuity of services by shifting to online channels.    The Philippines provides a great example of a government addressing digital ecosystem gaps – strengthening the foundational ID, digital data governance, and digital payments systems.  One of the few countries without a foundational ID system beyond its civil registry, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) started rolling out the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) in 2019.   Learning from the challenges of social assistance delivery without a foundational ID during the COVID-19 response, PSA recognized digital SP delivery as a priority area and is now working with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to use PhilSys for the digital transformation of the country’s major social assistance programs.

worldbank.org (2022) The Philippines’ experience in implementing the social amelioration program (SAP) in response to the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic highlights the pressing need for financial inclusion, especially among the poor. The absence of a national identification (ID) system and low bank account ownership posed a challenge in the delivery of SAP. The Government of the Philippines (GoP) expedited the development and registration for the national ID system (PhilSys) and used the opportunity to facilitate bank account opening. Not only ownership of bank or mobile money accounts but also accessibility to financial services is essential for financial inclusion. This study assesses the challenges and opportunities in financial inclusion, especially among the poor in remote communities. First, the study carries out a mapping of all financial transaction points and estimates the travel time to the nearest point. Second, the map is superimposed with the poverty and potential vulnerability of families in remote communities. Finally, the study assesses the coverage of 4Ps in remote areas in view of the potential challenges in implementing the social assistance program in hard-to-reach communities.

etui.org (2022) The spread of Covid-19 and the ensuing adoption of lockdown measures have had severe consequences for European labour markets. All EU governments quickly made unprecedented economic and social support available to tackle the consequences of the pandemic. However, these measures – introduced by EU Member States during the pandemic as regards unemployment benefits, sickness benefits and special leave for parents – have not fundamentally improved formal access to social protection schemes for non-standard workers and the self-employed. Especially in the domain of unemployment benefits, temporary (sometimes one-off), mostly flat-rate and means-tested benefits have been introduced for these categories, thus falling short in structurally addressing important gaps in their social protection systems, which pre-date the Covid-19 pandemic. The present report discusses the measures targeted at non-standard workers and the self-employed in eight countries: Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania and Sweden. These case studies confirm the emergency and non-structural character of the measures but also provide innovative country-specific examples. The pandemic has triggered debates on the situation of specific categories of workers and on the need to address gaps in their protection (e.g. workers in the platform economy). It has also highlighted the active role that trade unions have played during the crisis. Nevertheless their involvement in the decision-making process has clearly been uneven across countries and has been dependent on political will and on the state of social dialogue.

Capital News (07.04.2022) The government has allocated Sh146.8 billion to cater for health care services in the 2022/2023 budget. Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani says the allocation will go a long way in improving the health care services in the country. “Better health care outcomes depend on the availability, accessibility and capacity of health care workers to deliver quality services anchored on well equipped and provision health care facilities,” he said. Health Care is one of the big four agenda of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration. Yattani noted that the government is committed “towards achieving the goal of achieving 100 percent health insurance coverage”. “Key among these initiatives include the free maternity program dubbed linda mama which currently benefits over 1 million mothers annually increasing the total number of health workers in the public and private sector investment in the health infrastructure and development of a digital health platform support effective monitoring of the health sector,” he said.

worldbank.org  (17.11.2021) The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerabilities of the vast and diverse informal economy as well as the lack of social protection schemes to provide timely support, especially to those in urban areas. To protect vulnerable individuals from shocks and build their resilience, governments in Africa need to expand social registries and develop and implement policies to cover the informal economy by innovative social protection programs. The report provides an overview of social protection instruments for different groups in informal economy and proposes innovative instruments to encourage the “missed middle” of social protection to save and build resilience to future shocks.

Pension Policy International ((06.04.2022) On March 30, 2022 the Dutch government submitted draft legislation to reform the Dutch pension system, (the Bill) which is expected to come into effect on January 1, 2023. If the Dutch House of Representatives approves the proposal, it will go to the Senate where it is expected to pass. The deadline for transitioning to the new scheme is January 1, 2027 at the latest. This change will impact every employer with a pension scheme in place. In practice, once this new law is in effect, all pension arrangements with employees and contracts with pension providers will need to be renewed. In this alert we provide you with an overview of the most important reforms to the Dutch pension system and recommended steps forward. For those not yet familiar with the current Dutch pension system, we begin with a brief explanation.