The Australian superannuation fund UniSuper had its private cloud data deleted accidentally earlier this month, disrupting the fund’s services for the past couple of weeks. A configuration problem caused Google Cloud to delete UniSuper’s account.

ceps.eu (13.05.2024) As European labour markets become increasingly digitalised, concerns about inequality and poverty are increasing. This study, completed for the European Commission, seeks to investigate these concerns further. Part A focuses on how prepared EU Member States are to manage the digital transformation in a socially fair manner. It develops 27 country fiches assessing the current and future prospects of each EU Member State.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (30.04.2024) Algorithmic management by large online platforms disrupts societal relations. A case study about drivers in Southeast Asia demonstrates the worldwide shifts that are underway.

Asian Development (02.05.2024) These charts illustrate the rapid increases in the population aged 60 and older in Asia and the Pacific and the urgency of addressing long-term care needs in the region. Over the past two decades, life expectancy at age 60 in the region has increased by more than 5 years. But the expected number of years lived in less than full health also increased in most economies. A new harmonized dataset on older persons in nine economies in developing Asia found that  on average, 57% Asians aged over 60 have at least one diagnosed noncommunicable disease (NCD).

These are the most important changes since January 1, 2024: – Expansion of the flexibility of pension payments – Incentives for gainful employment after 65 – Raising the retirement age (now called the reference age) for women to 65 (from January 1, 2025) On September 25, 2022, the Swiss electorate approved the reform package to stabilise the pension scheme. This aims to secure and maintain the level of old-age pensions, ensure the financial balance of the system over the next decade and meet the need for flexibility.

Atlantico.fr (08.05.2024) Abondance de personnes âgées, marché du travail défaillant et manque de flexibilité des systèmes de retraite ... Au Japon et en Corée du Sud, de nombreuses personnes âgées vivent en situation de grande précarité

The Financial Express (02.05.2024) India has made remarkable progress in expanding social security through the groundbreaking Code on Social Security-2020 (CoSS 2020), positioning itself as a pioneer in this field. This legislation stands out for its acknowledgment of platform workers and extending universal social security to them. Furthermore, under India’s leadership, the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration has prioritised the goal of ensuring adequate social protection and decent working conditions for platform workers under the overarching theme of “The Future of Work”.

VoxDev (20.03.24) Evidence from Mauritius shows the consequences of losing a formal job in a labour market characterised by high rates of informal employment are significant. Unemployment benefits help mitigate these effects, while generating only small disincentive effects on labour supply.

NBER (April 2024) Social protection programs have become increasingly widespread in low- and middle-income countries, with their own distinct characteristics to match the environments in which they are operating. This paper reviews the growing literature on the design and impact of these programs. We review how to identify potential beneficiaries given the large informal sector, the design and implementation of redistribution and income support programs, and the challenges and potential of social insurance.

Cash Transfer (CT) programmes can improve maternal and child health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. However, studies assessing the effectiveness of these programmes on maternal and child health outcomes (MCH), beyond nutritional outcomes and service utilisation, remain inconclusive. We synthesized current empirical evidence on the effectiveness of these programmes in improving MCH outcomes and suggested a framework for reporting such outcomes.