Asian Pacific nations need to broaden social protection systems as growing income inequality leaves large numbers of poor and vulnerable people exposed to risks and unexpected difficulties like unemployment, ill health and natural disasters.
Titled “The Social Protection Index: Assessing Results for Asia and the Pacific”, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) study said social protection systems in many fast-growing middle-income countries in Asia and the Pacific are failing to support the poor and vunerable people.
There are many vulnerable groups, including women and informal sector workers, who can’t access employment, health or other social insurance, but are also not poor enough to be eligible for social assistance such as cash transfers, said Bart Édes, Director in ADB’s Regional and Sustainable Development Department.
Government social protection programmes need to be expanded to cover this unprotected ‘missing middle’ that is at risk of falling into poverty in the event of an economic, environmental or health shock of some kind, he added.
According to ADB, regional nations need to focus on programmes that ensure employment, basic infrastructure building, skill development, education, technical and vocational training, and encourage the private sector to contribute more to social protection programmes.
The study, which analyses government programmes providing social insurance, social assistance and labour market support in 35 countries across Asia and the Pacific, shows varied spending patterns across income groups and sub-regions.
A few countries, including Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia and Uzbekistan have Social Protection Indexes of 0.2 and higher, meaning that they are already investing eight percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) in social protection programmes.
However, spending in most middle-income countries, including Armenia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Samoa remains below three percent of GDP.-VNA
Titled “The Social Protection Index: Assessing Results for Asia and the Pacific”, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) study said social protection systems in many fast-growing middle-income countries in Asia and the Pacific are failing to support the poor and vunerable people.
There are many vulnerable groups, including women and informal sector workers, who can’t access employment, health or other social insurance, but are also not poor enough to be eligible for social assistance such as cash transfers, said Bart Édes, Director in ADB’s Regional and Sustainable Development Department.
Government social protection programmes need to be expanded to cover this unprotected ‘missing middle’ that is at risk of falling into poverty in the event of an economic, environmental or health shock of some kind, he added.
According to ADB, regional nations need to focus on programmes that ensure employment, basic infrastructure building, skill development, education, technical and vocational training, and encourage the private sector to contribute more to social protection programmes.
The study, which analyses government programmes providing social insurance, social assistance and labour market support in 35 countries across Asia and the Pacific, shows varied spending patterns across income groups and sub-regions.
A few countries, including Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia and Uzbekistan have Social Protection Indexes of 0.2 and higher, meaning that they are already investing eight percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) in social protection programmes.
However, spending in most middle-income countries, including Armenia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Samoa remains below three percent of GDP.-VNA
