Social protection scheme around the world in covid-19 and actions for uncertain future

Globally, social protection is not agreed on one definition and clear on its coverage, while the common type of protections includes: old-age income protection AKA pensions, unemployment support, health-care protection, and other schemes that include maternity protection and employment injury (WHO, 2010). Regrading to WHO, they reported that only about 20 percent of the global working-age population and their families have access to some range of social protections. During the time of Covid-19, social protections are brought to the front-line while undergoing an unprecedented trial.

In the early stage of Covid-19, 45 countries have launched social protection programmes in response to Covid-19 in March 2020, later increasing to 84 countries, with a total of 283 programs currently in place, 21 of which programs are unemployment benefits (Ugo Gentilini, Mohamed Almenfi and Ian Orton, 2020). Even before some countries began their social protection schemes, job loss is already a common scenario worldwide no matter it’s a poor or rich country. Losing a job in a pandemic is scrying without knowing what could happen afterward, enough saving could help but it is uncertain for how long it could sustain. Moreover, it is more frightening when there’s only one earner to feed the family, and in the long run, it will become a matter of social stability. Up to date, the International Labour Organization expected 195 million job losses worldwide due to the Covid-19. So how many of them are eligible for the unemployment benefits and how much support they can receive and to what extent?

According to the Investopedia that the world’s highest unemployment rates at the end of 2019 were in Sub-Saharan Africa and occupied Palestine: Lesotho: 28.2%; Eswatini: 26.5%; South Africa: 28.5%; Occupied Palestinian Territories: 26.4%; Mozambique: 24.8%, and the lowerest are: Qatar: 0.1%; Cambodia: 0.3%; Belarus: 0.5%; Lao People’s Democratic Republic: 0.7% and Myanmar: 0.8%. It is interesting to note that the lowerest unemployment rate does not represent a strong economy because some of the economies rely heavily on subsistence farming, which is labor-intensive but seasonal. Except for Qatar, the country is driven by oil and natural gas. More or less, the world is suffering from unemployment and the economic downturn. So how does the current government social protection scheme can help? Below I will list some countries around the world and give you a glimpse into the unemployment situation and the related policy in Covid-19.

In total, about 5.7% of the total workers have access to unemployment insurance during this pandemic across those countries. Based on the analysis, cash aid is the direct method of supporting the unemployed, while simple, flexible incentives for the employer to keep its employees seems to be the best way to prevent mass unemployment according to Jonathan Rothwell.

So we wondering that is there a better way to prevent such mass disaster in the next round (and I wish the next round will never come)? From the government side, it needs to build a more resilient system to overcome such situations that it is not only acted upon timely but also allocates resources strategically. First, the government should be open and transparent to build trust with its own people, so that people can cooperate with the government and achieve the maximum impact. Monetary and non-monetary support is necessary to reach the needy people and businesses so that resources are aligned with the needs. On the other hand, industry, business and company should build their ability to adapt to changes quickly and the employee should alter their attitudes toward employment and also have a sense of self-protection in terms of losing jobs.

Ideal advice could sum up above, but what if we could set up a ‘Universal Fund’ for emergencies worldwide, each country would contribute their certain amount of GDP based on their economy, and the citizens of any country could apply for the subsidy according to the state of emergency. Does this ‘Universal Fund’ feel more like WHO or UN? Yes, but both of them are not inclusive enough for all countries on the earth because of certain politics. In a nutshell, this pandemic has hit so many places in our human history and it will never recover easily, so we should be prepared and alert in the future.

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