Social protection systems support individuals and households who need additional income or assistance. They help foster social inclusion and address poverty by reducing the burden of uncertainty from unemployment, parental responsibilities, sickness, disability, or old age.
As societies and labour markets evolve, European welfare states face new challenges to provide adequate support to all, due to the changing profile of people in need of social protection, and the risks of becoming lenders of last resort. Providing effective social protection can also ensure a fair transition to a greener and more digital economy.
The JRC informs social protection policy by providing evidence-based research, mapping the dimensions of social protection that need closer attention: coverage, adequacy, and take up of benefits, as well as transparency of systems.
The JRC cooperates with the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion on:
- Monitoring the effectiveness, coverage, and adequacy of national social protection systems.
- Conceptualising and measuring the degree of universality of social protection systems and policies.
A Monitoring Framework on access to social protection
Providing fairer and more resilient social protection systems in Europe means reinforcing a set of recent initiatives, such as the 2019 Council recommendation on access to social protection for all workers and the self-employed. In 2020, the European Commission and the Social Protection Committee (SPC) established the first version of the Monitoring Framework on access to social protection, providing a baseline scenario to assess the annual progress of national social protection systems.
As part of a joint project with DG EMPL, a study commissioned by the JRC computed all indicators of the Monitoring Framework on access to social protection from 2014 to 2019 by most frequent labour market status held by individuals. In addition, it includes an approximation of indicators by type of employment contract (namely, temporary or permanent).
The indicators listed in the Monitoring Framework focus on individuals below the poverty line who are entitled to social protection benefits but does not distinguish between the adequacy and coverage offered across different types of benefits. For this reason, a follow-up study co-authored by the JRC studied measures the adequacy of unemployment benefits and old-age pensions for people nominally above the risk-of-poverty threshold, but who are nevertheless in need of assistance. According to the study’s simulations, people living alone are less protected against risks, as family plays an important role in providing social protection for retirees and the unemployed. Moreover, the study also finds a systemic gender gap in the adequacy of pensions for individuals not at risk of poverty.
Measuring the adequacy and coverage of national social protection systems
The JRC coordinated a research programme with external researchers to define and measure the degree of universality of European social protection systems, by focusing on the measurement of adequacy and coverage of national social protection systems. This requires evaluating which elements to monitor, among unemployment benefits, pensions, healthcare, sickness, maternity and paternity benefits, and invalidity benefits.
The first study provides a synthetic index of universality of social protection for Spain. The universality degree in Spain was found to be broadly stable around 50 (out of 100) over the period 2013—2018 despite improvements in the adequacy of old-age pensions, and in the coverage of housing and unemployment benefits. The index aggregates indicators for coverage and adequacy dimensions of various social protection branches: unemployment benefits, pensions, social assistance and family benefits, health, education, and housing.
A second study finds that the degree of universality of unemployment benefits in Europe has decreased in most Member States from 2013 to 2018. This decrease is mainly due to declines in coverage rates, sometimes also in adequacy, but rarely both simultaneously. This does not mean that countries have enacted reforms with a negative impact on unemployment benefits coverage. Instead, this could result from changing figures and characteristics of the unemployed.
The third study of this series shows a declining level of universality of housing benefit policies in Europe since 2010, although the gap between Eastern-Central and Northern-Western countries has been steadily narrowing. In 2020, the universality was highest in Sweden, followed by France, Finland, and the Netherlands, in contrast with Slovakia, Spain, Portugal, and Greece.
Towards better coverage and adequacy of social protection systems
Socio-economic trends have changed the needs of individuals and households for social protection systems over the last decades. More people may need to rely on the welfare state if the support obtained from family members, local community, or private sector becomes scarce, inaccessible, or unaffordable. At the same time, the number and profile of people in need of social protection is changing due to population ageing, technological change, and the emergence of new forms of work. There is an urgent need to understand whether existing social protection schemes can efficiently cover these new risks.
While setting up and financing these systems is the responsibility of Member States, the EU supports national actions for improvement through the European Pillar of Social Rights and its Action Plan to ensure upward social convergence.
Publications
Muñoz de Bustillo Llorente, R., Fernandez Macias, E., Gonzalez Vazquez, I. (2020), Universality in Social Protection. An inquiry about its meaning and measurement, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, doi:10.2760/971730, JRC122953.
Arranz, J. M., García-Serrano, C., and Hernandez, V., (2022), Universality in Social Protection: measurement for Spain, Mazzeo Ortolani, G. (editor), Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, doi:10.2760/03900, JRC128773.
Antón, J. and Grande, R. (2022), Monitoring the effective coverage and adequacy of social protection in the EU, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, doi:10.2760/714939, JRC129361.
Arranz, J. M., García-Serrano, C., and Hernandez, V., (2022), Measuring Universality in Social Protection: A pilot study on unemployment benefits, Mazzeo Ortolani, G. (editor), Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, doi:10.2760/890342, JRC129321.
Aidukaitė, J. and Ubarevičienė, R. (2022), Measuring Universality in Social Protection: A pilot study of housing support benefits, Mazzeo Ortolani, G. (editor), Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, doi:10.2760/205855, JRC130130.
Bazoli, N. and Podestà, F. (2022), Measuring the adequacy of social protection by looking at those above the poverty line, Mazzeo Ortolani, G. (editor), Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, doi:10.2760/442692, JRC131292.
