Willis Towers Watson (05.11.2021) A Senate-approved bill in the Netherlands provides both maternal and paternal paid leave for up to nine weeks after a child is born.
pravda.com.ua (01.11.2021) Ukraine is in the top 15 countries globally for the fastest ageing population and the State Budget has allocated about UAH 170 billion to cover pensions in the security and defence sectors, fund social contributions for some categories of people, allowances, increases to pensions and to bridge the deficit of the Pension Fund. The Ukrainian pension system stands at a crossroads and the recent COVID-19 crisis has only amplified the urgent need for reform.
worldbank.org (17.06.2021) A region known for its volatility, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has suffered severe economic and social setbacks from crises—including the COVID-19 pandemic. These crises have taken their toll on careers, wage growth, and productivity. Employment in Crisis: The Path to Better Jobs in a Post-COVID-19 Latin America provides new evidence on the effects of crises on the region’s workers and firms and suggests several policy responses that can bolster long-term and inclusive economic growth. This report has three key findings.
unicef (june 2021) The importance of mainstreaming gender into social protection policies and programmes is increasingly recognized. However, evidence on the extent to which this is actually happening remains limited. This report contributes to filling this evidence gap by drawing on the findings of two complementary research projects undertaken by UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti and UN Women in 2019.
CTV News (17.10.2021)On Oct. 23 – the last day of Small Business Week – the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) and the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) are set to expire. Both programs have been extended several times since being implemented in 2020.
As for individual benefits, the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) and the Canada Recovery Caregiver Benefit (CRCB) are also set to terminate on Saturday. These programs, too, can be extended into November by the government.
Philippine News Agency (17.10.2021) The implementation of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) has resulted in milestones for the country's social protection and digital transformation, according to a World Bank official.
He said success in utilizing PhilSys for social protection has a "significant demonstration effect" in accelerating digital transformation among government agencies and even the private sector.
OECD (21.10.2021) The COVID-19 crisis has hit the long-term care (LTC) sector particularly hard, with large numbers of people dependent on care and particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 have fallen ill, and a disproportionate rate of LTC workers both exposed to, and infected by, COVID-19. The analysis presented in this report describes the effects of COVID-19 on LTC in OECD countries, mainly showing infection rates and mortality of LTC recipients.
There were a massive 99 data breaches and cyber attacks in August, making it the third-biggest monthly total of the year by number of security incidents. But, by contrast, only 36,673,575 records were confirmed to have been leaked, which is the fewest we’ve recorded since May 2018. The true figure, as always, will be higher than this – in part because organisations rarely disclose how many records were involved in security incidents. But we’ll take a positive however we can take it, particularly given how leaky organisations have been throughout lockdown.
As always, you can find the full list of incidents below, with those affecting UK organisations listed in bold. In case you missed it, you may also be interested in our first quarterly review of data breaches and cyber attacks. The report takes the information collected in these lists and summarises our findings. It includes year-on-year comparisons in the number of incidents that were detected, a review of the most frequently breached sectors and a running total of incidents for the year.
"This is not a good day for South Carolina." That was Governor Nikki Haley's public reaction to news that a foreign hacker had infiltrated South Carolina's Department of Revenue and made off with 3.6 million social security numbers and 387,000 credit/debit card numbers. Of the compromised cards, state officials believe only 16,000 were unencrypted, though the staggering social security breach affects more than half of South Carolina's 4.6 million population. Governor Nikki Haley held a presser earlier this afternoon confirming the attack — first uncovered by WLTX Columbia.
We've already seen supposed "elite hackers" attacking the World Health Organization, cyber criminals hitting a COVID-19 vaccine testing facility with ransomware and healthcare workers being targeted with Windows malware using coronavirus information as the lure.
Now, it has been reported, hackers have forced the Italian social security website to shut down for a period, as the most vulnerable in society started their claims for a €600 ($655) crisis payout.
INPS has been distributing emergency funds to those hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic
The website of INPS, the Italian department of social security and welfare, appears to be operational again after an apparent cyber-attack forced it offline yesterday (April 1).
A ransomware attack forced Ireland’s healthcare service to shut down its servers. Here’s what we know so far.
U.S. Congress is discussing legislation, not yet finalized, that could significantly alter the employee health and benefit landscape.
ilo.org (19.10.2021) The online platform will serve as a unique worldwide reference and source of information on national employment policies, and strategies to promote youth employment.
worldbank.org (07.10.2021) The World Bank, in collaboration with the Government of South Africa, released a new report assessing the country’s social assistance programs and systems. In an environment of high unemployment, persistent poverty, weak economic growth and shrinking fiscal resources that has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Social Assistance Programs and Systems Review: South Africa report underscores the critical role of the grant and social assistance system in mitigating poverty.
ZAWYA (18.10.2021) Thailand's cabinet on Tuesday approved a further 92 billion baht ($2.76 billion) of relief measures to help boost its flagging economy as the Southeast Asian country deals with its biggest and most prolonged coronavirus outbreak. Thailand earlier this year approved a further 500 billion baht borrowing plan to mitigate the impact of the epidemic. Of the approved support, the government will offer 42 billion baht of cash transfers under an existing co-payment scheme between November and December, spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana told a news conference.
allafrica.com (14.10.2021) Social protection is a right for the federal government and not a token or favour. The last 18 months have been difficult for families and communities across the country as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The vision of equality and inclusion as explained in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has become blurred. Social protection programme coverage in Nigeria has remained low during the COVID-19 crisis.
oecd.org (14.10.2021) The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant deterioration in public finances, adding to pre-existing strains from long-term structural challenges including population ageing, climate change, rising inequality, digitalisation and automation. This report, originally prepared for G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors at the request of the Italian G20 Presidency, considers the challenges and opportunities of developing public fiscal policy strategies as countries seek to “build back better”.
blogs.worldbank.org (07.10.2021) The Guaranteed Minimum Income (GMI) program is the flagship of Greece’s social protection reforms and particularly effective by international standards in reaching poor households. Its national launch in February 2017 aligned Greece with other EU members in offering a last resort benefit. The government used the program as a platform to provide additional one-off support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asian Development Bank (August 2021) The three-tiered elderly system in the country consists of home-based care as the core support, community-based care as necessary support, and residential care as supplementary support. The main policies and progress of the system are explained, including insights on how the government encourages private sector involvement. A key recommendation of this paper is the need for better integration of residential and home- and community-based care as part of the elderly care system.
worldbank.org (06.10.2021) In Nepal, the lockdowns that were adopted to mitigate the public health impacts of Coronavirus (COVID-19) were accompanied by a significant contraction in economic activity. These in turn suggest a negative outlook for poverty and welfare, particularly in the face pre-existing macro and micro vulnerabilities. Even prior to Coronavirus (COVID-19), with consistently high rates of vulnerability and exposure to a range of shocks, the risks to falling back into poverty remained high in Nepal.
worldbank.org (23.06.2021) The report discusses the "Takaful and Karama" cash transfer program (TKP) in Egypt. Launched in 2015, it is a flagship social assistance initiative of the government. Takaful is a family income support program. It is a conditional cash transfers programme targeting poverty reduction and improved human development outcomes in health and education. Karama is an unconditional income support and social inclusion sub programme. The intended beneficiaries are the poor elderly (above age 65) and persons with severe disability.
china.org.cn (30.09.2021) The number of people of retirement age in Germany will rise by 22 percent by 2035, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Thursday. The number of people aged 67 or over in the country will go up to 20 million, a 22 percent increase from 2020, the first medium-term population projection conducted by Destatis showed. The head of the Federal Employment Agency, Detlef Scheele, was quoted in the media as saying in August that Germany needed 400,000 new workers per year to replenish its labor force.
pensionpolicyinternational.com ( (01.10.2020) Mr Alhassan Yakubu Fuseini, the Tamale Zonal Manager of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), says the Authority plans to rope in 11 million workers in the formal sector onto pension schemes. He said as the NPRA works to achieve its target, it would also ensure that coverage for the informal sector was increased from the current three per cent to 40 per cent by 2026.
