The potential role of social protection in the development process has received heightened recognition in recent years, yet making a strong investment case for social protection remains particularly challenging in many emerging and developing countries. This report challenges us to think deeply...

Social protection systems are often still designed for the archetypical full-time dependent employee. Work patterns deviating from this model – be it self-employment or online "gig work" – can lead to gaps in social protection coverage. Globalisation and digitalisation are likely to...

What factors influence satisfaction with social protection? This report investigates differences in perceptions of social protection across countries, with a focus on France, using novel data from the OECD’s Risks that Matter Survey. Compared to respondents in Germany and the United Kingdom,...

The OECD Risks that Matter survey finds that these worries are weighing on people’s minds across countries. Risks that Matter examines people’s perceptions of the social and economic risks they face and assesses how well people feel government reacts to their concerns. The survey polled a...

This policy brief discusses the measures countries have taken to support the livelihoods of those who cannot access unemployment benefits or short-term work schemes. It examines the raft of new programmes introduced across the OECD and beyond, including means-tested assistance, new cash transfer...

The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred perhaps the largest expansion of social protection systems in seventy years. Yet many people are still deeply affected by the crisis and are calling for even more help. Drawing on 25 000 responses across 25 OECD countries, the 2020 Risks that Matter survey finds...

In France, the proportion of persons aged 65 and over to the working-age population will double to 58% by 2050. Without policy changes, this could lead to higher public expenditures, labour force shortages, and slower economic growth. This report surveys of the main barriers to employment for...

Institutions whose goal is to help those at the margins have been a feature of social life for centuries. Today, social assistance institutions have integration and encouragement as their goal. They seek to avoid exclusion and stigmatisation.Poverty can tear at the fabric of society. However,...