Eurostat (12.12.2018) Social protection expenditure in the European Union (EU) stood at 28.2% of GDP in 2016, slightly down compared with 28.4% in 2015, according to data from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In 2016, the two main sources of funding of social protection at EU level were social contributions, making up 55% of total receipts, and general government contributions from taxes at 40%. The EU average continued to mask major disparities between Member States.

The Social Outlook for Asia and the Pacific lays out new arguments and evidence for the critical and urgent need to increase investment in people, particularly in social protection.

ILO (2018) This policy paper: (i) provides a global overview of the organization of pension systems
and their contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG); (ii) monitors SDG
indicator 1.3.1 for older persons, analyses trends and recent policies in 192 countries,
including the extension of legal and effective coverage in a large number of low- and middleincome
countries, through a mix of contributory and non-contributory schemes; (iii) looks
at persisting inequalities in access to income security in old-age; (iv) presents lessons from

OECD (03.12.2018) Improvements in the design of pension systems over the last decade in OECD countries have made them more financially sustainable and governments should now focus on ensuring they provide people with an adequate retirement income, according to a new OECD report. The OECD Pensions Outlook 2018 says that governments face challenges includng population ageing, low returns on retirement savings, low growth, less stable employment careers and insufficient pension coverage among some groups of workers.

dguv-forum (Nov. 2018) Flexibilisierung, demografischer Wandel, die ständige Verfügbarkeit von Diensten in der digitalen Wirtschaft – zentrale Themen der Arbeitswelt 4.0 stellen die Kernarbeitszeit von acht Stunden pro Tag infrage. Was bedeutet das für den Arbeitsschutz? Wo ist seine Position in dieser politisch geführten Diskussion? Aber zunächst einige Fakten. In den vergangenen 25 Jahren (1991 bis 2016) ist die Zahl der Erwerbstätigen in Deutschland um vier Millionen auf 43 Millionen Menschen gestiegen. Die Zahl der Arbeitsstunden aber blieb unverändert.

OECD (November 2018) This annual edition of Labour Force Statistics provides detailed statistics on labour force, employment and unemployment, broken down by gender, as well as unemployment duration, employment status, employment by sector of activity and part-time employment. It also contains participation and unemployment rates by gender and detailed age groups as well as comparative tables for the main components of the labour force. Data are available for each OECD member country and for OECD-Total, Euro area and European Union.

Depuis quelques années, le nombre d’arrêts de travail est en augmentation constante en France. Pourquoi cette tendance que l’on ne retrouve pas forcément chez nos voisins ? Dans la dernière étude de l’Institut Sapiens sur le sujet, Laurent Cappelletti, professeur au CNAM, avance une explication intéressante : il s’agirait là de l’expression d’un « ras-le-bol » managérial, puisque 99% des absences évitables seraient liées avant tout à des dysfonctionnements dans le management des personnes.

resakss.org (2018) Social protection initiatives in Africa increasingly aim to institutionalize systems that guarantee assistance for the poor and protect the vulnerable against livelihood risks. Through direct and indirect income effects, social protection programs can also play an instrumental role in promoting agricultural development and, more broadly, economic growth. Two major trends will determine the future demand for social protection in African countries.

Europa (13.11.2018) The study, which includes country reports and a synthesis report, provides an overview of inequality in access to healthcare in 35 European countries - EU Member States as well as EFTA and enlarging countries - showing that important inequalities persist, both between and within countries.

ILO (16.11.2018) Working poverty, informality and vulnerable employment are amongst the persistent challenges of Asia-Pacific labour markets according to a new ILO report. The report calls for coordinated policies to promote decent work as the link to translate economic growth into sustainable development in the region.