As per the latest World Bank review, there are 125 countries that have introduced 263 social insurance programs. However, few of these are focused on rural areas, non-formal, seasonal workers or migrants. Unemployment benefits (79 measures) and wavers, deferment or subsidization of social security contributions (61) are the most frequently adopted, followed by paid sick leave (59) and adapted pensions (49).
The recommendations below are based on country examples from the World Bank, ILO and FAO country/regional offices:
-For farmers/fishers/foresters covered by social security, trigger insurance benefits and subsidize payouts for formally employed individuals (sick leave payments, unemployment benefits, free COVID-19-related tests and treatment, etc.)
-Temporary compensation for non-formal workers not able to work via social assistance (see social assistance section)
-Provide tax and debt relief (and other payments for a specific period of time for low-income earners and vulnerable farmers (including youth, elderly and women)
-Strengthen community-based insurance schemes, many provided by rural or producer organizations
-Provide support and services for added costs related to child or elderly care
-For people in rural areas, who continue to perform essential duties, ensure proper protection and access to masks, disinfectant, etc (following basic OSH requirements)
-Improve access to micro loans in the community by providing financial and technical support to grassroots savings and loan groups and recapitalization of community banks and financial services associations
-Ensure the safety of agriculture inputs and equipment
A handful of countries have implemented social protection measures supporting seasonal workers and migrants: New Zealand - seasonal workers have access to Essential Workers Leave Support (paid sick leave and self-isolation support) and employers can apply for wage subsidies to pay their foreign seasonal workers; additional income limits raised for temporary work compensation and for farmers’ pensions; Italy – simplification of qualifying conditions for unemployment benefit for agricultural and a one-time payment of EUR 600 has been provided for vulnerable workers, including agricultural workers; Brazil - established unemployment support programme, open to migrants and refugees; Chile - established programme on the COVID-19 Emergency Stipend for vulnerable families targeting documented migrants. USA (California) - a new fund is being established to provide income support to migrant workers irrespective of their status; Portugal - all migrant workers and asylum seekers with pending applications were recognized as permanent residents until at least July 01 2020, granting them access to health care services, welfare benefits, bank accounts, and work and rental contracts; China’s recently adopted discretionary fiscal measures called for inter alia the accelerated disbursement of unemployment insurance and extension to migrant workers; Hong Kong (China): The established Community Care Fund covering also recent migrants who are low income and have not yet achieved permanent residency status. India - support to migrants and farmers will mainly be in the form of providing concessional credit to farmers, as well as a credit facility for street vendors and an expansion of food provision for non-ration card holders (mainly migrants). Saudi Arabia has announced that migrant workers who are in quarantine or undergoing treatment will receive full salaries and declared its accelerated disbursement of unemployment insurance and extension to migrant workers. Nigeria announced the inclusion of IDPs Internally Displaced Persons in a two-month Government response plan covering food rations for vulnerable segments of society. Others are reducing the administrative requirements for sick-leave and unemployment benefit payments, respectively. Among social insurance interventions, paid sick leave and unemployment benefits are the most frequently adopted, followed by waived, subsidized or deferred social security contributions.
The recommendations below are based on country examples from the World Bank, ILO and FAO country/regional offices:
-For farmers/fishers/foresters covered by social security, trigger insurance benefits and subsidize payouts for formally employed individuals (sick leave payments, unemployment benefits, free COVID-19-related tests and treatment, etc.)
-Temporary compensation for non-formal workers not able to work via social assistance (see social assistance section)
-Provide tax and debt relief (and other payments for a specific period of time for low-income earners and vulnerable farmers (including youth, elderly and women)
-Strengthen community-based insurance schemes, many provided by rural or producer organizations
-Provide support and services for added costs related to child or elderly care
-For people in rural areas, who continue to perform essential duties, ensure proper protection and access to masks, disinfectant, etc (following basic OSH requirements)
-Improve access to micro loans in the community by providing financial and technical support to grassroots savings and loan groups and recapitalization of community banks and financial services associations
-Ensure the safety of agriculture inputs and equipment
https://www.ilo.org/sector/activities/sectoral-meetings/WCMS_626551/lang--en/index.htm
http://www.fao.org/social-protection/resources/resources-detail/en/c/1256369/
Support returnees' innovation and entrepreneurship, issue one-time start-up subsidies for returnees, and implement support policies such as business guarantee loans;
-Also in China, the government has instructed that salary payments should be made to workers who are unable to work due to quarantine or illness (Source ILO).
-Austria and Germany: Development of platforms to match supply and demand of labour in the agricultural sector. Farmers can indicate their demand for labour/seasonal workers while those in search of work opportunities (e.g. those (already) affected by temporary or permanent unemployment or underemployment) can indicate their availability.
Sources: Austria: www.dielebensmittelhelfer.at; Germany: www.daslandhilft.de
-Republic of Korea (South Korea): Labour shortages due to the evacuation of undocumented migrant workers led to the following actions from local governments:Formal requests were made to the sending governments (China and Vietnam) for dispatch of seasonal workers after the COVID crisis. The control tower for monitoring the labour shortage situations and household incomes of farmers were installed
-Ireland, Singapore and South Korea have made sick pay/leave available for the self-employed.
A few countries have extended or are considering extending unemployment benefits to informal workers. Italy has eased qualifying conditions for unemployment benefit for agricultural workers and a one-off payment of EUR 600 has been provided to vulnerable agricultural workers (Source: ILO. 2020. COVID-19 and the impact on agriculture and food security.https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_dialogue/---sector/documents/briefingnote/wcms_742023.pdf).
Costa Rica has launched the “Bono Proteger”, a three-month temporary financial aid for working population affected by COVID-19. Informal workers are covered and if their applications are approved, they can receive 125k colones (USD 223) per month for three months . Similarly, Brazil has extended the means-tested three-month emergency benefit for both formal and informal unemployed workers and micro-entrepreneurs by allowing those not yet registered to register online (Source: ILO. 2020. Social protection responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries: strengthening resilience by building universal social protection. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---soc_sec/documents/publication/wcms_744612.pdf). In Togo, the government, while quickly initiated a cash transfer programme targeting informal workers, is discussing how to build on this measure and incentivize informal workers to participate in a social insurance scheme expected to be launched in 2020 (ibid).
Additionally, paid sick leave has also been granted to informal workers. Countries including the United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy have extended sick leave benefit to self-employed workers and those in the informal economy (Source: ILO. 2020. Sickness benefits during sick leave and quarantine: Country Responses and policy considerations in the context of COVID-19. https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/RessourcePDF.action?id=56377). Self-employed workers in Singapore will also enjoy a payment of SG$100 (US$68.5) per day during their quarantine (Source: ILO. 2020. Social protection responses to the Covid-19 crisis. Country responses in Asia and the Pacific. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/documents/briefingnote/wcms_739587.pdf).
