Enhancing Linkages between Universal Social Protection and Employment for Decent Work

This side event to the 61st Session of the Commission for Social Development will showcase country experiences and discuss how to generate synergies between social protection and employment policies for decent work.

A total of 2 billion workers – 61.2 per cent of the world’s employed population – are in informal employment and most of them are among the 4.1 billion people who do not have any access to social protection or are inadequately protected. Extending social protection coverage to workers in the informal economy through adapted mechanisms including employment services, access to training, health protection , can contribute to expanding formal employment and enhancing the living standards of workers and their families.

At the same time, the formalization of enterprises and employment contributes to a broader contribution and tax base, which creates fiscal space for tax-financed social protection programmes for those who do not have sufficient contributory capacity, potentially triggering a virtuous cycle of development of higher productivity, higher tax revenues and better public services.