2013

1. Older workers. How does ill health affect work and income?

   01 January 2013

   This article seeks to provide evidence on the fact that older workers constitute a non-homogeneous group concerning health challenges. It analyses the impacts of ill health of those concerned on work and income and argues to remove barriers faced by older workers when accessing labour markets and health care. Finally, it discusses comprehensive policy approaches that have the potential to address the issues faced by older workers.

2012

1. Semi-conditional cash transfers in the form of family allowances for children and adolescents in the informal economy in Argentina

   01 January 2012

   In 2009, Argentina introduced a new transfer programme for children and adolescents younger than age 18 (Universal Child Allowance) that extended coverage under the contributory programme for family allowances to include families in the informal economy and families of unemployed persons. This article describes this innovative programme, compares it with similar programmes in Latin America and analyses its impact on coverage and its possible effects on the welfare of the population. The results indicate that the extension of access to this type of benefit has reduced considerably the coverage gap for the poor and indigent and supports efforts to consolidate the operations of different and poorly coordinated transfer programmes.

2011

1. 

   Social security for all

   01 December 2011

   According to the ILO’s “World Social Security Report 2010/11”, only 20 per cent of the world’s working-age population has access to comprehensive social security systems.

2. Social security. Three lessons from the global crisis

   01 January 2011

3. The UN Social Protection Floor Initiative. Turning the tide at the ILO Conference 2011

   01 January 2011

2010

1. Extending social security to all. A guide through challenges and options

   16 November 2010

   This book outlines basic concepts such as the social protection floor and the social security staircase, analyses the affordability of various approaches, and examines the results of practices around the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

2. Executive summary of World Social Security Report 2010/11. Providing coverage in times of crisis and beyond

   16 November 2010

   This is the first in a new series of biennial reports that aim to map social security coverage globally, to presenting various methods and approaches for assessing coverage, and to identifying gaps in coverage. Backed by much comparative statistical data, this first report takes a comprehensive look at how countries are investing in social security, how they are financing it, and how effective their approaches are. The report examines the ways selected international organizations (the EU, OECD and ADB) monitor social protection and the correlation of social security coverage and the ILO Decent Work Indicators. The report's final section features a typology of national approaches to social security, with a focus on countries' responses to the economic crisis of 2008 -- and the lessons to be learned, especially concerning the short- and long-term management of pension schemes.

2009

1. How can we maintain pension levels in pay-as-you-go schemes? Maintaining pension levels in PAYG schemes in ageing societies: Rules versus discretion

   01 January 2009

   This article discusses on sustainability of pension systems and its adequacy.

2. Optimal financing and self-adjusting mechanisms for sustainable retirement systems. The social stabilisation of pensions in times of crises and beyond: A critical review of three decades of pension reform and their outcomes

   01 January 2009

   This brief paper first recapitulates the main pension financing options and reviews the theoretical pros and cons of pension funding seeking for a logical synthesis. In the second part of the paper, a broad review of the historical experience of pension reforms since the 1980’s is presented as well as in the context of the recent financial and economic crisis. A proposal is then presented to enable the social and financial stabilizations of public pension reforms with a view to guarantee pension levels in times of crisis and beyond. The paper ends with an outline of the main principles of a pragmatic ILO pension policy stance. The present paper focuses primarily on contributory public pension arrangements.

3. Responding to the crisis: Building a "social floor"

   01 January 2009

   in "World of Work" the magazine of the ILO, n° 67.

4. Is Latin America retreating from individual retirement accounts?

   01 January 2009

5. Are Old-age Pension System Reforms Moving Away from Individual Retirement Accounts in Latin America

   01 January 2009

   This article reviews two rounds of pension reforms in ten Latin American countries to determine whether they are moving away from individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Although the idea is provocative, the authors conclude that the notion of "moving away from IRAs" is insufficient to characterize the new politics of pension reform.

2007

1. Interview of M Cichon on a Social Security floor

   01 January 2007

   Interview with Michael Cichon, Director of the Social Security Department of the ILO.As the World Social Security Forum is to be held in Moscow in September, the ILO, through its Global campaign for Social Security and Coverage for All, promotes the idea of a social security floor, a strategy aimed at achieving Millennium Development Goal N° 1 on halving poverty. It is also a case for early investment to reach the 80 per cent of the world's population that lacks adequate social protection.

2. Linkages between statutory social security schemes and community-based social protection mechanisms: A new approach

   01 January 2007

   This paper intends to both underline the high potential of coverage extension strategies that build on linkages between various extension mechanisms and to respond to the existing gap of both empirical and conceptual considerations on linkages. It focuses on statutory social security (SSS) schemes and community-based social protection (CBSP) mechanisms in order to develop a typology of potentially promising linkages between these types of mechanisms.

3. Brief overview of social security interventions in India

   01 January 2007

4. Enabling transition to formalization through providing access to health care: The examples of Thailand and Ghana

   01 January 2007

2005

1. Managing risk and minimizing vulnerability

   01 January 2005

   The role of social protection in pro-poor growth