Extending social protection coverage to workers in new forms of work in Asia and the Pacific

Social protection systems are a key mechanism for reducing poverty, promoting equality and enhancing income security. Yet they may also produce or accentuate differences in the status of workers regarding income protection across the life cycle.

As the world of work is evolving, social protection systems will need to adapt to changing contexts and demands. In particular, the growing diversification of work arrangements has become a distinct feature of today’s labour markets across the world.

While some traditional forms of employment are disappearing or transforming in the wake of automation and digitalization, new forms of employment have been growing, with newly emerging occupations and sectors, such as the platform economy.

Today, one of the critical questions in some countries is whether these forms of work are stepping-stones for more stable, permanent and formal jobs or, as economies grow at more steady states, the new forms of employment are here to stay and become a permanent feature for larger segments of the workforce.

Many of the new forms of employment are in new forms of work. They offer both opportunities and challenges for labour markets and social protection, making it, at the current stage, one of the most debated topics in the area of social protection.

The event aims at discussing the challenges placed to social protection by the emergence of new forms of work in Asia and the Pacific, the solutions that countries are adopting, and the current ongoing national debates.

The event will offer a forum to discuss updates on worldwide policy regulations on the Platform Economy. It will present the findings emerging from two very informative reports:

• A study by the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific on the challenges of covering workers in new forms of work in the Republic of Korea
• A report assessing coverage, needs and measures for the social security of platform workers in China with results from survey data collected in March 2021 by the Academy of Labour and Social Security of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China.

The event will also offer an opportunity for a first interaction in view of a regional publication on the topic, including, among others, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea.

This knowledge-sharing event combines two online webinars of two hours each. Between the two webinars, a common workspace will be available for participants to place comments, share ideas, relevant documents and useful links.

Tuesday 18 May 2021: Live Webinar 1: The Challenges of Extending Coverage to Workers in New Forms of Work in Asia and Pacific 

• Welcome remarks
• Session I: Introduction to the challenge
• Session II: The social situation of workers in non-standard forms of work in China and India
• Closing session:: Explaining the virtual campus and the next session

19 - 25 May 2021: Thinking of solutions

• Knowledge-sharing digital activities on the emerging solutions
• Open space for technical discussions
• Interaction with other participants
• Possibility to formulate questions for the panelists
  
   

Wednesday 26 May 2021: Live Webinar 2 - Ideas and innovation

• Wrap-up of the Live Webinar 1 and snapshot of the Knowledge-sharing Week.
• Session I: Innovations to extend social security coverage to different categories of workers in new forms of employment
• Session II: Debate guided by the questions placed under the Knowledge-sharing Technical Forum 
• Closing session: Conclusions from the workshop – a contribution for the future of SP in Asia and Pacific

• Promoting adequate social protection and social security coverage for all workers, including those in non-standard forms of employment - International Labour Organization and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - 2018
  
   
• The regulation of non-standard forms of employment in China, Japan and the Republic of Korea – International Labour Organization – 2015