A basic social security package for all: an affordable right

A basic social security package for all: an affordable right

"Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security" Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 25

Still today, half of the world lives below the two-dollar-a-day poverty line. Adequate social protection transfer mechanisms are an essential means of relieving poverty. However, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has estimated that only 20 per cent of the world's population benefits from adequate social protection coverage.

Nevertheless, examples from a number of countries show that basic social protection programmes are feasible and have a marked effect on the reduction of poverty. For a low-income country, even a basic social security system can make the difference between achieving or not achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) No. 1 of halving poverty by 2015.

The ILO has put forward a proposal for the adoption of an approach to social security provision centred on the guarantee of a "basic social security package" which would be provided to all residents. This Basic Social Security package, consists of a modest set of social security guarantees ensuring that ultimately: (1) All residents have access to basic/essential health care benefits; (2) All children enjoy income security at least at the poverty level, through various family/child benefits aimed at facilitating access to nutrition, education and care; (3) Some targeted income support is provided to the poor and the unemployed in the active age group; (4) All residents in old age or with disabilities enjoy income security at least at the poverty level, through pensions for old age, disability and survivors.

According to ILO calculations, less than 2 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would be necessary to provide a basic set of social security benefits to all of the world's poor. An ILO report shows that even LDCs could afford that: Can low-income countries afford basic social security?