First published in 1948, the International Social Security Review is the principal international quarterly publication in the field of social security.
Social protection and revenue collection are often regarded as potential drivers of social cohesion. The article joins this debate, providing three main contributions. First, we carefully discuss the concept of social cohesion and endorse one specific definition. Second, we propose using the concept of the “fiscal contract” as the key theoretical lens to understand the often neglected potential joint effects of social protection and revenue collection policies on social cohesion. Third, we illustrate three main mechanisms through which these policies can have positive or negative impacts on the different components of social cohesion and highlight how relevant it is for policy-makers to carefully think about these.
This article assesses the effectiveness of pension provision and health insurance in preventing ill health among older people in developing countries. It argues that, until recently, social protection agendas devoted insufficient attention to health risk prevention, instead focusing on the reduction of income poverty through cash transfers. The article shows that there is little reliable evidence to indicate that providing older people with pension benefits enhances their health status and that these effects should not be taken for granted by policy‐makers. The article then focuses on the effect of inclusion in health insurance schemes on health outcomes for older people, with specific reference to outcomes related to hypertension. Drawing on newly‐available data from the World Health Organization for Ghana, Mexico and South Africa, it shows that older people with health insurance are marginally more likely to be aware of health conditions such as hypertension and more likely to have them under control. Nevertheless, the great majority of hypertensive older people, insured or uninsured, are not effectively treated. The chief barriers to treatment are shown to be mainly related to awareness and service provision, rather than financial ones. Consequently, the capacity of pensions or health insurance to enhance health outcomes for older people in such countries, including in rural areas, is heavily contingent upon health education, health screening and adequate health service provision. These interventions should be viewed as an integral element of mainstream social protection strategies, rather than adjuncts to them. Yet, in practice, social protection and health promotion continue to be treated as almost entirely separate spheres, thus presenting substantial institutional barriers to developing combined interventions.
Using survey evidence collected from social security organizations and contribution collection agencies, a major aim of this article is to advance knowledge sharing and good practice on contribution collection and the enforcement of compliance. Although contribution collection and compliance have important social protection, political and fiscal dimensions, this article frames the pursuit of these objectives as an aspect of administrative good governance. The evidence suggests that seven core factors combine often to form the basis of success in contribution collection and compliance. In addition to improving benefit adequacy and the financial health and public standing of programmes, such success may support also national and international efforts to extend social protection coverage. Ultimately, the achievement and scale of any such success may be determined and delimited by the broader national policy environment, over which most social security organizations have little or no influence.
This article aims to fill a gap in the social security literature on India by examining the role of micro‐pensions. The analysis suggests that because of the heterogeneity of the target population, micro‐pension products — with microfinance institutions (MFIs) as the main, but not only sponsors — should be voluntary and portable and permit experimentation in their design and in the delivery of services. Accordingly, decentralized micro‐pension schemes that operate within an appropriate regulatory framework and according to sound governance practices are deemed more fitting for the Indian context than centralized schemes with limited flexibility. The article discusses two case studies of recently‐initiated micro‐pension schemes in India, which reveal the need for rigorous analytical research on the micro‐pension sector, particularly concerning the structuring of pay‐out options and innovative delivery mechanisms. The article concludes that micro‐pensions have the potential to be one of the most useful components in India's multi‐tiered social security system, and should be encouraged.