Expanding social insurance coverage to informal workers

Hernan Winkler, Elizabeth Ruppert Bulmer and Hilma Mote

No 27905978, Jobs Group Papers, Notes, and Guides from The World Bank

Abstract: The high incidence of informality in developing countries implies that many workers are not covered against important risks, such as unemployment, illness and old-age poverty. Given that expanding the Bismarckian system to include informal workers presents many challenges, several countries implemented non-contributory social insurance programs to expand coverage. However, these contributed to labor market segmentation and are unlikely to be financially sustainable. This note reviews the economic literature dealing with the expansion of social insurance programs and summarizes the main policy insights. It draws on international evidence on social insurance system design and innovations, and the resulting impact on coverage. It also provides general design principles that can apply to unemployment benefits, health insurance, and pensions.

Keywords: informal worker; social insurance system; social insurance program; social insurance scheme; informal sector; social insurance coverage; pension system; social pension; unemployment benefit; labor market distortion; formal labor market; barrier to participation; public health insurance; health insurance program; international social security; unemployment insurance system; informal sector worker; social insurance contribution; case of health; Universal Health Care (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 28
Date: 2017-08-01
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Expanding Social Insurance Coverage to Informal Workers (2017)
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