ILO Report Highlights China's Role in Expanding Social Security Coverage for Informal Workers
An International Labour Organization (ILO) report, titled 'Expanding social security coverage in the informal economy: China's experience and lessons,' examines strategies for extending social security to workers in the informal economy. The report draws on experiences from China, Kenya, and the Lao People's Democratic Republic. It identifies common challenges faced by these countries, including high levels of informal employment, complex employment relationships, limited worker capacity to contribute to social insurance schemes, and high participation costs for formal schemes. The study highlights China's approaches, such as lowering participation thresholds by combining contributory schemes with publicly financed or subsidized arrangements, creating flexible participation pathways for new forms of employment, and utilizing unified service platforms, electronic credentials, and online processing to reduce costs and enhance efficiency. China's pilot occupational injury protection program and its comprehens...
