Filling in the gaps: Expanding social protection in Colombia
Paula Garda and
Jens Matthias Arnold
No 1715, OECD Economics Department Working Papers from OECD Publishing
Abstract:
The pandemic has highlighted significant gaps in social protection, in particularamong informal workers. With around 60% of workers in informal jobs, many of those most in need of social protection are left behind. The government has attempted to fill this gap with non-contributory benefits, but coverage and benefit levels are low. Better-off formal workers have access to a full range of social protection benefits, involving large-scale public subsidies that widen the gap. Labour informality and social protection coverage are interlinked, as high social contributions are one of the main barriers to formal job creation. Ensuring some universal basic social protection, while simultaneously lowering the cost of formal employment, would reduce labour informality, poverty and inequality and raise productivity, all of which are long-standing challenges in Colombia.
Keywords: Colombia; employment; health; informality; pensions; public policy; social protection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H51 H53 H55 I14 J32 J43 J65 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-05-19
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea, nep-ias, nep-iue and nep-lma
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1715-en
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