Webinar
Combating inequalities: what role for universal social protection?
This webinar will foster a discussion regarding the role of universal social protection and its financing on the reduction of inequalities and present the main findings of a new ILO working paper on the topic.
This event will serve to launch the working paper Combating inequalities: what role for universal social protection? produced and published by the ILO in 2024.
Agenda
- Welcome and introduction: Shahra Razavi, Director of the Universal Social Protection Department, ILO (Moderator)
- Discussion:
- Sudhvir Singh, Unit Head - Equity and Health, WHO
- Katja Hujo, Head of Bonn office and Senior Research Coordinator, UNRISD
- Helmut Schwarzer, Head of the Public Finance, Actuarial Services and Statistics (PFACTS) unit, ILO
- Umberto Cattaneo, Public Finance Specialist, ILO
- Q&A with the audience
- Summary and closing
Background
Income inequality remains a major global challenge, with the bottom 50% of households holding only 25% of total income, whereas the top 10% hold 30%. How can universal social protection and its financing help reverse this trend?
The primary aim of the ILO working paper, which will be presented during the webinar, is to provide evidence regarding the impact of social protection benefits, taxes and social security contributions in reducing income inequalities. The study employs a well-established methodology to estimate the partial redistributive effect of contributory and non-contributory pensions, family benefits, unemployment benefits, sickness and employment injury benefits, disability benefits, social security contributions, as well as income and property taxes. The partial redistributive effect corresponds to the percentage decrease in the Gini coefficient that is attributable to each social protection benefit and tax. The main data input is microdata from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS). The evidence presented shows that social protection benefits, and its financing through taxes and social security contributions, are effective policy measures for reducing income inequalities. On average countries that spend more on social protection are those that experience larger reductions in income inequality. The paper concludes with practical recommendations on how to finance and design social protection systems that reduce inequalities, as well as ideas for future research in this area.
The webinar will provide a platform for discussion, offering policymakers valuable information to support the case for increasing investments in social protection as a critical element in achieving the SDG target 1.3 by 2030.