Comprehensive Social Protection Research Articles

Comparative study of poverty dynamics and income structure: Pre and post COVID-19 impact on households with and without disabilities in South Korea

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic, as an external shock, has affected the health and economic well-being of individuals. Vulnerable populations with limited resources have also been affected, exacerbating societal inequalities throughout the pandemic. ObjectiveThis study examined poverty dynamics in South Korea before and after the COVID-19 outbreak, focusing on changes in the poverty status and income structure of the population with and without disabilities. MethodsWe conducted a multinomial logistic regression analysis using data from the 14th and 16th waves of the Korea Welfare Panel Study. ResultsThe results show that the pandemic had a significant impact on income levels, particularly for individuals who experienced poverty, and notable differences were observed in income structures between groups with and without disabilities. While individuals without disabilities relied primarily on business income and regular as well as irregular income prior to experiencing poverty, those with disabilities experienced a decline in irregular and private transfer income. In addition, the poverty escape groups with and without disabilities showed increases in regular and irregular income. ConclusionThe results of this study show how current population groups with and without disabilities have experienced changes in the poverty structure due to COVID-19. These results highlight the need for a comprehensive social protection system to address the external shocks faced by vulnerable populations.

The current state of Ukrainian legislation on social protection of military personnel and their family members

The article examines the current state of Ukrainian legislation on social protection of military personnel and their family members. It is noted that to date, Ukraine has developed a system of normative legal acts of various legal force, which regulate the issues of social and legal protection of military personnel, their constitutional rights and freedoms, and guarantees regarding their implementation. At the same time, despite the fact that legislation in this area is constantly developing and improving, many issues still need to be resolved. Since a significant number of normative legal acts do not always indicate the provision of integral and comprehensive social protection. In particular, a conclusion was made about the non-systematic and scattered nature of the norms that define specific types of social protection for servicemen and their family members. That is, there is no single approach to the legal regulation of social protection of servicemen and their family members, there is a lack of a single legislative act, according to which consolidated and mutually agreed standards and principles of building the entire structure of social security in the researched area would be determined. Therefore, the existing system of social protection needs radical reorganization. In particular, it is necessary to create a clear system of guarantees of social (material) support for military personnel and members of their families, to ensure their observance and implementation by the state, thereby stimulating citizens to military service. It was noted that an important direction of state policy, which should become the focus of attention during the war and after its end, should be the social security of servicemen and their families, as well as raising the status of servicemen in the state. Because today there is no more important task in Ukraine than protecting and ensuring the rights of servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations who defend our borders, sovereignty and integrity of our state, who with their courageous struggle effectively protect the Ukrainian state and the Ukrainian people. At the same time, it is noted that despite the limited economic opportunities, the state still tries to provide adequate social protection to military personnel and their families, pays out monetary support and rewards, provides medical treatment and rehabilitation. Attention was also drawn to the fact that the regulatory and legal settlement of issues of ensuring social protection of servicemen and their family members should be closer to international standards, in particular, NATO member countries.

Ensuring organisational and legal conditions for financing the social sector of Ukraine

The legal aspects of regulation of budgetary financing of social services have been analysed, and the main directions of improving the efficiency of the system of budgetary financing of social protection and social security of the population of Ukraine in modern conditions have been identified. Based on the analysis of scientific views, theoretical approaches to building a budget system in the context of social protection have been considered. The shortcomings of legal regulation of mechanisms for financing the provision of social protection services have been identified, and the main factors for improving the efficiency of budget financing and the inclusiveness of social protection have been described.
 The main task of the State in the context of social protection of the population is to fully and timely fill the relevant budgets and to finance social protection measures within the limits established by the budget. It has been noted that today the State system of budgetary funds management for financing social benefits remains one of the main components of the general and comprehensive social protection system of Ukraine. However, the practice of organising the budget process in Ukraine in the current socio-political conditions is characterised by an imbalance in the state and regional programmes of economic and social development. The main factors of disruptions in the functioning of the system of financing the social protection sector in Ukraine have been considered. There is a gradual reduction in the share of expenditures on social protection and social security from 30 % to 15 % of the consolidated budget in 2016–2022, while social spending is actually growing in monetary terms. It has been determined that although the Budget Code of Ukraine regulates the financial independence of local budgets by assigning to them the relevant sources of budget revenues, the actual level of revenue formation does not allow them to properly fulfil their own powers in the field of social protection of the population.
 It has been noted that in the context of decentralisation, amendments to the budget legislation should take into account the provision of real rights to pursue an independent socio-economic policy at the local level and at the same time ensure the effective exercise of their own and delegated powers. Provision of local and regional authorities with revenues sufficient to finance their powers should be done through decentralisation of budgetary funds, which will help to achieve a balance of regional and local budgets.

Understanding informal care burden domains’ impact on overall burden – a structural equation modeling approach with cross-sectional data from Germany

Abstract Informal caregivers are the core of long-term care for older and disabled people. Although previous research has studied factors that influence caregivers’ burden, little is known about the different care domains and why they influence the caregivers’ perceived burden. Drawing on a large-scale German survey, the current study makes a first attempt to address this research gap. The study used cross-sectional data on 1.429 informal caregivers. Germany is characterized by comprehensive but fragmented health and social protection systems oriented toward supporting informal care at home. Structural equation modeling (SmartPLS 3) was used to estimate the effects of five care domains on three burden dimensions and, ultimately, on the overall burden. Our results indicate that support in organizational matters had the highest impact on the overall perceived burden. The findings reveal that German caregivers particularly struggle with bureaucracy, i.e. an area that can directly be influenced by policymakers.

Frequency of use and cost of biologic treatment for inflammatory bowel disease and inflammatory bowel disease-associated arthropathy in Colombia in 2019

Introduction and aimsInflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has a high economic burden due to its chronicity. Treatment has evolved, thanks to the understanding of IBD pathogenesis and the advent of biologic therapy, albeit the latter increases direct costs. The aim of the present study was to calculate the total cost and cost per patient/year of biologic therapy for IBD and IBD-associated arthropathy in Colombia. MethodsA descriptive study was conducted. The data were obtained from the Comprehensive Social Protection Information System of the Department of Health for the year 2019, utilizing the medical diagnosis codes of the International Classification of Diseases related to IBD and IBD-associated arthropathy as keywords. ResultsThe prevalence of IBD and IBD-associated arthropathy was 61 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, with a female-to-male ratio of 1.5:1. Joint involvement was 3%, and 6.3% of the persons with IBD and IBD-associated arthropathy received biologic therapy. Adalimumab was the most widely prescribed biologic drug (49.2%). Biologic therapy had a cost of $15,926,302 USD and the mean cost per patient/year was $18,428 USD. Adalimumab had the highest impact on healthcare resource utilization, with a total cost of $7,672,320 USD. According to subtype, ulcerative colitis had the highest cost ($10,932,489 USD). ConclusionBiologic therapy is expensive, but its annual cost in Colombia is lower than that of other countries due to the government’s regulation of high-cost medications.

Frecuencia de uso y costo del tratamiento biológico para enfermedad inflamatoria intestinal y artropatía asociada a enfermedad inflamatoria intestinal en Colombia durante el año 2019

Introduction and aimsInflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has a high economic burden due to its chronicity. Treatment has evolved, thanks to the understanding of IBD pathogenesis and the advent of biologic therapy, albeit the latter increases direct costs. The aim of the present study was to calculate the total cost and cost per patient/year of biologic therapy for IBD and IBD-associated arthropathy in Colombia. MethodsA descriptive study was conducted. The data were obtained from the Comprehensive Social Protection Information System of the Department of Health for the year 2019, utilizing the medical diagnosis codes of the International Classification of Diseases related to IBD and IBD-associated arthropathy as keywords. ResultsThe prevalence of IBD and IBD-associated arthropathy was 61 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, with a female-to-male ratio of 1.5:1. Joint involvement was 3%, and 6.3% of the persons with IBD and IBD-associated arthropathy received biologic therapy. Adalimumab was the most widely prescribed biologic drug (49.2%). Biologic therapy had a cost of $15,926,302 USD and the mean cost per patient/year was $18,428 USD. Adalimumab had the highest impact on healthcare resource utilization, with a total cost of $7,672,320 USD. According to subtype, ulcerative colitis had the highest cost ($10,932,489 USD). ConclusionBiologic therapy is expensive, but its annual cost in Colombia is lower than that of other countries due to the government's regulation of high-cost medications.

Transformation of Out-of-Home Services for Children in North Macedonia: Towards Individualized and Child Tailored Care

Abstract Republic of North Macedonia in the last several years undergoes comprehensive social protection reform. The reform processes have been focused on furthering the processes of deinstitutionalization, decentralization and pluralization of social services delivery. The transformation of social protection institutions has been one of the key priorities in this period, specifically out-of-family services for children. In this respect, alternative care services for children without parents and parental care has been strengthened and promoted. Foster care as a traditional form of protection has been given particular attention and has undergone considerable changes. This article will review key reform processes in the domain of social protection in the country, with focus on social services for children without parents and parental care. To do this, results from recent empirical research will be presented. Mixed methodology research findings target current conditions in respect to foster care, small group homes and supported living as services used for placement of children without parents and parental care as well as professional approaches used to provide for individualized and child-tailored care. Cross-cutting issues relate to human rights, basic human needs and social integration of children.

'People don't understand what we go through!': Caregiver views on South Africa's care dependency grant.

Caregivers are under enormous pressure in trying to provide for the needs of their children with disabilities in South Africa. The care dependency grant (CDG), an unconditional cash transfer, is the primary state-subsidised intervention for the social protection of low-income caregivers of children with disabilities. The primary objective of this substudy, within a larger multistakeholder qualitative project, was to investigate caregiver perspectives on CDG assessment and application, their beliefs about the purpose of the CDG and how they actually used these funds. Data for this qualitative research included in-depth individual interviews and one focus group discussion. Six low-income caregivers who were current or previous CDG beneficiaries participated. Deductive thematic analysis was conducted using codes related to the objectives. Access to the CDG was usually too late and over-complicated. Caregivers were grateful for the CDG but it was insufficient to cover the costs of care, in the context of high unemployment and weaknesses in complementary social services. Pressure on these caregivers was intensified by criticism in their social environments and a lack of respite care. Caregivers need service providers to be better trained and for systems of referral to available social services to be strengthened. The whole of society ought also to be targeted for increased social inclusion facilitated by improvements in understandings of the lived experience and cost of disability. The rapid time from data collection to write-up of this study will aid in building the evidence base on the CDG, an urgent priority for South Africa's journey towards comprehensive social protection.

Implementation and Relationship of Complete Staff Work Methods, Coordination and Supervision with the Implementation of Leadership Decision Making

This research is intended to develop a model in decision making in government management. This is in accordance with one of Unsrat's RIPs, namely comprehensive social and legal protection, in this case good government services through decision making in making policies. This research was conducted using a quantitative descriptive method. Data collection was carried out by conducting a survey, the data used was primary data obtained directly from respondents using a data collection tool in the form of a list of questions or questionnaires that had been prepared. Meanwhile, secondary data was obtained from various official publications at the institution where the research was conducted. As a sample of respondents in this study are leaders at the top level such as; Mayor, Deputy Mayor, City Secretary, and 3 assistants and middle-level leaders such as heads of divisions and heads of subdivisions, employees who are subordinates to subdivisions, with a sample size of 45 people. The variables studied were the implementation of the complete staff work method (X1), the implementation of coordination (X2), and the implementation of inherent supervision (X3) as independent variables or independent variables, and the effectiveness of decision-making implementation (Y) as the dependent variable or dependent variable. Data were analyzed using the product moment correlation analysis model to see the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable.

“The pandemic has added to my miseries”: Bangladeshi migrant workers’ social protection revisited

The protection of migrant workers has received renewed attention in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This article depicts how unpreparedness, inadequate social security and support services, and pre-existing socio-economic disparities disproportionately impacted Bangladeshi migrant workers during the pandemic. Adopting a qualitative approach based on findings from existing literature and surveys and primary data collected through interviews with returnee Bangladeshi migrants from the Gulf States, the article argues that the dearth of institutional, legal, social, and political understanding of the needs of migrants remains the main impediment to a comprehensive social protection system. The findings call for designing a crisis response and recovery policy, preparing a returnee database and leveraging bilateral, regional, and global processes to ensure migrants’ uninterrupted protection at home and abroad. The article also underscores the importance of a nuanced understanding and practice of gendered social support, and above all, adopting a rights-based approach to labor migration.

Human-Centred Design in UK Asylum Social Protection

This paper considers United Kingdom welfare provision for asylum seekers in the context of social protection scholarship, policy discourse more commonly associated with international development. Social protection definitions are contested, ranging from those focused on state provision to wider interpretations reflecting debates on holistic wellbeing, human rights and self-actualisation. Most recently, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has called for social protection policies for all citizens to reduce inequality among and within countries. Though there is exigency to reduce the extreme inequality existing between countries, literature is lacking on how social protection can be used to critique inequality within more economically affluent nations. Commentaries on social protection also tend to focus on economic poverty, with less attention given to vulnerabilities such as marginalisation. Literature suggests that UK asylum welfare provision is based on deterrence, control and marginalisation. In response, and to encourage equity in how all countries’ public policy is assessed, this paper utilises an international social protection framework to critique UK asylum welfare provision. It concludes by advocating for transdisciplinary, human-centred and comprehensive social protection policy design, encouraging participation by a wider range of stakeholders and a holistic understanding of wellbeing to meet asylum seekers’ needs effectively and efficiently.

Making the Right to Social Security a Reality for All Workers.

The right to social security has strong anchoring in international human rights law and forms a critical component of international labour standards. While social security has sometimes been portrayed as inimical to economic dynamism, there is a much larger body of work that posits a positive relationship between social welfare and economic progress. The COVID-19 crisis has revealed stark gaps in social protection. Workers in the informal economy have been particularly hard hit, as they were excluded from formal work-related protections and were not eligible for social assistance that often targets the very poor and those outside the labour force. Social assistance schemes with flat-rate benefits can be an element of a rights-based national social protection system if their eligibility criteria, benefit levels and modalities are set out in the national legislation, to ensure transparency and accountability. However, social assistance schemes should be part of a broader social protection system, which usually combines tax-financed schemes and social insurance to guarantee a social protection floor and provide higher-level benefits in line with international social security principles. Inspired by a vision that seeks to formalize all economic units, especially micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and make the right to social protection a reality for workers in all types of employment, the paper points to a number of country examples that have extended social protection by combining contributory and non-contributory elements. This vision is particularly needed at a time when climate change adaptation, digital transition, and other drivers of transformative change call for the formalization of jobs and enterprises, while making it possible for states to mobilize the maximum available resources to build universal, comprehensive and adequate social protection systems that can facilitate inclusive transitions.

Temporary Basic Income in Times of Pandemic: Rationale, Costs and Poverty-Mitigation Potential

AbstractThe pandemic has exposed the costs of job and income losses. Emergency cash transfers can mitigate the worst immediate effects on people who lack access to safety nets. This research note provides estimates for a potential Temporary Basic Income (TBI) for poor and near-poor people across 132 developing countries, as well as the minimum cost of income support sufficient to mitigate the pandemic-induced poverty increase. The total monthly cost of the TBI ranges 0.27–0.63% of developing countries’ combined GDP, depending on the choice: (i) top-ups on each country’s average incomes up to a vulnerability threshold; (ii) transfers based on each country’s median standard of living; or (iii) uniform transfers. This note argues that some form of TBI is within reach and can inform a larger conversation about how to build comprehensive social protection systems that make the poor and near-poor more resilient to economic downturns in the future.

Social policy of the state and the role of state programs in solving the problems of social protection of the population

Introduction. In a market economy, the process of state development is often accompanied by a drop in the standard of living of the population, a deterioration in the demographic situation in the country, a reduction in the average life expectancy of people, which makes it necessary to improve the effectiveness of the social protection system of citizens. When developing a social policy, the question of social priorities arises as one of the most important, that is, such social tasks that are currently the most urgent and urgent for society, require priority solutions, such as social protection of the working and non-working population, pension provision, social support for low-income segments of the population and the unemployed, etc. Materials and methods. During the preparation of the article the authors used conference materials, as well as in the review of sources – modern foreign periodicals. Results. The world practice of social insurance shows that the greatest social effect is achieved with the three-channel formation of insurance funds at the expense of contributions of employees, employers and the state. This method of financing ensures joint responsibility of the participants for the prevention and compensation of risks, joint management and control of the funds. In case of compulsory social insurance, the distribution is considered the most reasonable, when the biggest part of financing falls on the employer – 50%, 20-40% – on the state and 10-30% – on the employee. Conclusion. Based on the analysis of international experience, we can conclude that the most effective and comprehensive social protection systems usually include the following main elements: state benefits, compulsory social insurance, funded pensions, social assistance. Since the success of fundamental and profound social reforms depends on the public recognition of their justice, the social policy pursued by the state should be based on modern and adequate social indicators and criteria that are adequate to the new economic principles. The latter determine the threshold values of indicators of social activity and social security. Crossing these borders is unacceptable, as it is fraught with negative social consequences that make further progress in the economic reform of society impossible.

Prevalence and demographic characteristics of Hodgkin lymphoma in Colombia, according to the Ministry of Health data

Introduction: Hodgkin lymphoma accounts for approximately 10% of lymphoma cases. The epidemiology of Hodgkin lymphoma has always been a source of fascination to researchers due to its heterogeneous characteristics. Since 1993 in Colombia, the coverage of health services has been extended, and there is an extensive registry of health care processes through the Social Protection Comprehensive Information System. Objectives was To calculate the prevalence and describe the demographic characteristics of Hodgkin lymphoma in Colombia. Materials and methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study with data from the Comprehensive Social Protection Information System of the Ministry of Health of Colombia between 2015 and 2019. Results: 4,396 cases were identified, and a prevalence of 8.9 per 100,000 inhabitants; of these, 55% are men, with a male:female ratio of 1.2:1, with a higher prevalence in the 75-79 years age group. The departments with the highest prevalence are Risaralda (13.33), Bogotá D.C. (13.30), Boyacá (11.9), Quindío (11.49) and Santander (11.44). Conclusions: The prevalence is higher than that reported in the population-based cancer registries in Brazil (5.2), Colombia (5.4), Argentina (8.4), Portugal (8.4) Spain (11.1), France (12.4), United Kingdom (13.9), Italy (13.9), per 100,000 inhabitants between 2016 and 2020. The possibility is proposed that the differences found are due to the lack of population-based cancer registries in Colombian cities in which there is a higher prevalence of this entity and greater aging of the population.

BRIDGING THE GAP: THE ROLE OF MICRO-INSURANCE IN A COMPREHENSIVE SOCIALPROTECTION SYSTEM IN SOUTH AFRICA

Access to social protection interventions, such as social assistance, social insurance and private insurance, in South Africa is limited. For that reason, plugging the holes in the safety net is undoubtedly one of the most pressing challenges facing South Africa in its quest to design a comprehensive social protection system. The point is that vulnerable persons, just like any other persons, have to contend with social risks (for example, death, poor health, invalidity, etcetera). As a result, similarly to all other persons, they require protection against these risks. It is clear that the current social protection interventions (particularly social insurance, social assistance and privateinsurance) fail to protect every person in need of such protection adequately in South Africa. Thus, the contribution sets out to investigate the prospects of micro-insurance being used as an instrument to extend social protection coverage to the excluded and marginalized persons in South Africa.

Social networks and their impact on access to health care: insights from older widows living alone in Kottayam, South India

AbstractThe feminisation of ageing observed across the world is a significant challenge in many societies. Women's greater longevity is associated with the increased likelihood of age-related disability and morbidity. Furthermore, gendered disadvantage and poverty can make access to health care increasingly problematic in later years. Among the Indian states, Kerala has the highest number of residents above the age of 60 and many are older widows. Given this context, this paper explores what promotes access to health care for older widows living alone in the south Indian state of Kerala. Thirty-two in-depth interviews, eight focus group discussions and eight units of participant observation were carried out among widows, health-care providers and key informants. Applying a reflexive inductive approach to our analysis, the main barriers to access that emerged were altered family structures and loneliness, whilst enablers included good social networks and access to neighbourhood clinics. Our participants’ social networks were drawn from three levels: family, neighbourhood and the wider community. The ability to form a personal community from their social networks and the quality of relationships within this community strongly predicted the capacity to access health care. Efforts to improve access to health care for older widows requires a response that is rooted in the socio-cultural context of the community. Comprehensive social protection policies that promote initiatives to engender social capital among the older population, decentralised primary health-care services, and the training and sensitisation of health service staff would be key to promote equitable access for older widows.

Preferences for long-term care insurance in China: Results from a discrete choice experiment

Rapid population aging has led countries to consider the introduction of long-term care insurance (LTCI) as an essential component of a comprehensive social health protection package. Limited evidence, however, exists on people's preferences for such insurance products, especially in countries where their availability is still restricted. Using a discrete choice experiment (DCE), we investigated preferences, willingness to pay, and heterogeneity in preferences for attributes of a social LTCI among community members in China. We adopted a multi-methods approach, combining information across different data sources to identify five DCE attributes: individual premium, benefit package, coverage ceiling, government subsidy for participants, and reimbursement of home-based care provided by family caregivers. We constructed our experiment using a D-efficient design and ran the DCE survey among 1067 community members in urban and rural areas in Shenyang and Dalian, Liaoning Province from Dec 2019 to Jan 2020. We relied on a panel mixed logit model to analyze the data. Our findings indicated that people had significantly higher preferences for the LTCI product with a higher coverage ceiling, a lower individual premium, a higher government subsidy, a reimbursement of home-based care provided by family caregivers, and an expansion of the benefit package to also include necessary daily assistance. The coverage ceiling was found to be the most important attribute, followed by the reimbursement of home-based care provided by family caregivers and the individual premium. Our findings also revealed that the area of residence, prior commercial insurance ownership, age, having children, and income were the factors that drove heterogeneity in preferences for LTCIs. These findings bear important policy implications, as they provide clear guidance on product design, enabling decision-makers to increase the attractiveness and sustainability of LTCI.

Social Protection, Covid-19, and Building Back Better

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought sweeping changes for economies and societies, with the most devastating consequences for individuals and groups with pre-existing vulnerabilities. As attention shifts from addressing urgent humanitarian needs to long-term response, it is time to think about the role of social protection as part of a longer-term solution to living with Covid-19, as well as supporting efforts to build back better. This article considers how social protection can offer support and be supported in short‑, medium-, and long-term responses, under different scenarios for how the pandemic might unfold. Based on a secondary literature review, we argue that planning must anticipate the possibility of an enduring pandemic and that the expansion of social protection should not be limited to a short-term response. Rather, Covid-19 presents a necessity and opportunity to establish firm foundations for more comprehensive social protection systems for years to come, including leveraging greater domestic expenditure and international assistance.

Welfare solidarities in the age of mass migration: evidence from European Social Survey 2016

Welfare opinion research has traditionally viewed migration as a potential hazard for welfare solidarity. In this article, we argue that while increased presence of foreigners can indeed make some people less supportive of public welfare provision in general or trigger opposition to migrants’ social rights, the link between migration and solidarity is not universally a negative one. Instead, many people can combine support for migration with high preferences for comprehensive social protection; others can endorse migration while they are not particularly supportive of an all-encompassing welfare state. Based on this line of reasoning we construct a taxonomy of four ideal types of welfare solidarity that are present in contemporary European welfare states. To illustrate the usefulness of this heuristic tool, we apply Latent Class Factor Analysis to European Social Survey round 8 data. We find that the majority of Europeans (56%) combine strong support for both migration and the welfare state (extended solidarity). However, exclusive solidarity is also widely spread as over a quarter of respondents (28%) oppose migration while expressing strong support for the welfare state. People who oppose migration and have relatively low preference for the welfare state (diminished solidarity) represent a small minority (5%). A little more than a tenth (11%) of Europeans endorse migration, but express relatively low support for the welfare state, which we assume to be a reflection of cosmopolitan solidarity. Despite considerable variation in the incidence of the four solidarities across countries, the preference structure is the same for all. Further, we find that at the individual level, the propensity to hold one of these types of solidarities is influenced by social trust, citizenship and country of birth, financial situation, education, and residence type. However, the extent of migration and social spending do not appear to be related with the propensity of holding either type of solidarity as the liberal’s dilemma and the welfare chauvinism theories would predict.