Social Security Association (25.02.2021) On January 1, Mexico's government implemented reforms to the country's mandatory individual account pension program that include increasing employer contributions, adjusting government contributions, reducing the minimum contributions required for an old-age pension, boosting the guaranteed minimum pension, and capping administrative fees. The government finalized the changes on December 16, 2020, after reaching a reform agreement with Mexico's largest private-sector employer and trade union associations in July 2020.

Education et solidarité (15.02.2021) L’Ecole nationale supérieure de Sécurité sociale (EN3S), vient de lancer un tout nouveau programme intitulé : « une saison avec la Sécu ». Créé dans le sillage des rencontres « une journée avec la sécu », ce nouveau dispositif pédagogique est entièrement virtuel et s’adresse aux enseignant.e.s et leurs classes allant du second degré à l’enseignement supérieur en France. Son principal objectif ? Renforcer l’éducation à la solidarité et à la citoyenneté sociale.  

Development Pathways (08.02.2021) The paper makes the case for a “family stimulus” in the UK, advising the government to urgently boost the income of families hard-hit by the pandemic through the social security system, as well as targeting investment in childcare to ensure this sector keeps operating.

europa.eu (28.02.2021) The European Commission has presented a green paper to launch a broad policy debate on the challenges and opportunities of Europe's ageing society. It sets out the impact of this pronounced demographic trend across our economy and society and invites the public to express their views on how to respond to this in a public consultation, which will run for 12 weeks.

sciencedirect.com (2021) COVID-19 induced significant economic and social disruptions in India. Rural households, including smallholders, were affected by loss in migrant income, livelihood and farm and non-farm incomes. During this lockdown, the Indian government enacted several emergency legislations to provide direct and indirect relief to workers and households. India’s COVID-19 social assistance package, namely, PM-GKY, announced in March 2020, was designed to provide immediate relief to the vulnerable population.

The Indian Express (02.02.2021) The Budget for 2021-22 (April-March) also proposes to launch a portal that would collect relevant information on gig economy workers, including those working in building and construction, among others.

Research ICT Africa (January 2021) This RIA policy brief examines how technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), can be deployed to scale social protection programmes as well as reduce corruption in the disbursement of social protection grants, which the COVID-19 lockdowns, have revealed are vital lifelines for the most vulnerable.

worldbank.org (01.02.2021) The COVID-19 pandemic is testing global food and social protection systems at an unprecedented scale. The spread of the pandemic is disrupting food systems and undermining the food and nutrition security of households.

UN News (25.02.2021) Job losses or reduced working hours due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic cost the world the equivalent of 255 million jobs in 2020, the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Monday, noting that the “massive impact” was nearly four times the number lost during the 2009 global financial crisis. 

Oxfam (Feb 2021)  The report shows that COVID-19 has the potential to increase economic inequality in almost every country at once, the first time this has happened since records began over a century ago. Rising inequality means it could take at least 14 times longer for the number of people living in poverty to return to pre-pandemic levels than it took for the fortunes of the top 1,000, mostly White male, billionaires to bounce back.