Originally published on the CGS blog on June 10, 2014.
Only 27 percent of the world’s population had access to a comprehensive social security system in 2012. This is according to the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) newly released “World Social Protection Report 2014-15: Building economic recovery, inclusive development and social justice.”
To put in perspective, that means that 5.2 billion people, nearly three quarters of the world, lack adequate access to social protections such as health care coverage, injury and disability pay, sick time, and pensions in old age. In the report, the ILO outlines the ongoing need for such protections, particularly in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
In the immediate aftermath of the crisis, many governments instituted fiscal stimulus plans in order to counteract what was quickly becoming a depression. Unfortunately, in 2010 a new mood of austerity began to sweep the globe (ILO, p. 119-120). Far from alleviating the problem, these policies actually impeded recovery.
Consider, for example, that the number of individuals at risk of poverty in the European Union increased from 116 million in 2008 to 123 million in 2012; this includes an additional 800,000 at-risk children (ILO, p. 136). Moreover, the fact that 116 million people in the European Union—more than 20 percent of its population—were facing poverty even before the financial crisis speaks profoundly to the intense and persistent need to protect and enhance social security systems.
In the United States, programs that provide support to the unemployed, the elderly, and those unable to work sometimes are dismissively referred to as “entitlements.” But much of the world has agreed that individuals are, in fact, “entitled” to such protections. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) unequivocally outlines the right to “maintain benefits, whether in cash or in kind, from (a) lack of work-related income caused by sickness, disability, maternity, employment injury, unemployment, old age, or death of a family member; (b) unaffordable access to health care; (c) insufficient family support, particularly children and adult dependents.”
The ILO report builds upon the UDHR as well as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and clearly and strongly explains that “[t]he case for social protection is compelling in our times. Social protection is both a human right and sound economic policy. Social protection powerfully contributes to reducing poverty, exclusion, and inequality – while enhancing political stability and social cohesion” (ILO, p.120).
Sandra Polaski, the ILO’s Deputy Director-General recently remarked that “[i]t is now a matter of political will to make it [social protection] a reality. Modern society can afford to provide social protection.” 122 countries have reduced their spending (as a percentage of GDP) on social security as a result of the financial crisis (ILO, p.119). This is a trend that must be reversed.
The real question before us is, what kind of society do we want to live in?
Do we want to live in a world where the most vulnerable among us are left to survive (or not) on their own? Currently nearly 40 percent of the world’s population lacks a right to health coverage (ILO, p. 99). And it bears considering that nearly 25 percent of residents of a wealthy region like the European Union are at risk for poverty.
Or would we rather live in a society whose basic fabric is built on the idea that all of its members are entitled to economic and social security? I don’t think there can be any question morally, legally, or economically that we should strive for the latter.
