Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable
Vulnerability – The concept of vulnerability refers to the likelihood that people will fall into poverty owing to shocks to the economic system or personal mishaps. Estimates show that a large number of people on the edge of poverty, especially those just above the official poverty line, are economically insecure. If the World Bank's poverty line of USD 1.90 per day is used, rather than USD 1.00 per day, poverty rates rise dramatically in many developing countries, reflecting the vulnerability of their populations to small shifts in opportunities.
Social protection – This is defined as a broad range of public, and sometimes private, instruments to tackle the challenges of poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion. Increasingly, social protection measures are being used to mitigate vulnerabilities across the human life cycle, to maintain dignity, to promote the rights of individuals and to contribute to pro-poor and inclusive economic growth through building human capital and enabling poor people to increase their participation in economically productive activities. Social protection instruments include a range of both contributory and non-contributory schemes, and the term encompasses a range of poverty reduction mechanisms such as cash transfers, targeted food assistance, insurance schemes, programmes facilitating access to social services, as well as social insurance and labour market programmes, including old-age pensions, disability pensions, unemployment insurance, skills training and wage subsidies, among others. These services can be distributed to individuals, households and, in certain instances, whole communities.
A social protection system is a policy and legislative framework for social protection, including the budget framework, together with a set of specific social protection programmes and their corresponding implementation mechanisms.
Although access to adequate social protection is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, more than half of the world's population lacks national social protection coverage. Social protections schemes have expanded globally since 2000, as many developing countries adopted policies that afford protection for multiple contingencies. Pension coverage in particular is expanding rapidly. Over half (51 percent) of people above retirement age received a pension according to data available for the period from 2010 to 2012. Almost all countries have child or maternity benefit programmes, and cash transfer schemes are increasing.
Despite this progress, increasing social protection for those most in need remains a priority. Globally, 18,000 children still die each day from poverty-related causes, and only 28 percent of employed women are effectively protected through contributory and non-contributory maternity cash benefits. Most poor people remain outside social protection systems, especially in low-income countries. Of the entire population, only one in five people receive any type of social protection in low-income countries, compared with two out of three in upper-middle-income countries. The coverage gap is particularly acute in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, where most of the world’s poorest people live. In sub-Saharan Africa, only 15 percent of those in the bottom income quintile have access to a social protection benefit.
The realisation of the social protection target is measured by the percentage of eligible population covered by national social protection programmes. The International Labour Organization includes the following elements as part of comprehensive social security coverage: medical care; sickness benefits; protection for disability, old age and survivorship; maternity coverage; child benefit; unemployment benefit and employment injury cover; and general protection against poverty and social exclusion.
