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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.