Inclusive social insurance: Exploring real solutions to reach the self-employed

Self-employed workers, including own-account workers, are at the forefront of a changing world of work, while also representing the majority of informal workers in low- and middle-income countries. Large numbers of them are in vulnerable employment, with no access to basic labour market protections, including social security. Despite the growing body of research on the extension of social insurance to self-employed workers, further research is needed to broaden and deepen the evidence base of country examples.

This paper attempts to fill this gap through the presentation of eight distinct country examples of extension of social protection to self-employed workers. One of the key aims of this paper is to collect evidence on the views and experiences of potential and existing beneficiaries of different policies and mechanisms. Highlighting the continuing resilience of social insurance schemes in low-and middle-income countries, the paper examines the specific challenges of adapting social insurance schemes to the needs of self-employed workers in different contexts. The examples featured in this report represent an attempt to develop more permanent solutions for self-employed workers from varied starting points and reveal a wide range of potential strategies. Identifying common threads across these diverse experiences can therefore provide a basis for informing the development of global policy guidance.