Social protection

Social protection comprises public policies and programs that reduce poverty and help people manage economic and social risks across their lives.

Social insurance: Programs that pool contributions to provide benefits when people face risks such as unemployment, illness, disability, or old age. Contribution-based benefits are one major way social protection spreads risks across a population.
Means test: An eligibility assessment that uses a person’s or household’s resources to determine access to a benefit. Means tests direct limited assistance toward people below specified income or asset thresholds.
Unemployment benefit: Income support paid to eligible people who have lost work and are seeking employment. It protects earnings during joblessness, one of the risks social protection is designed to cover.
Welfare state: A political system in which the state assumes substantial responsibility for social welfare through services, transfers, and regulation. The welfare state is the broader institutional arrangement within which social protection programs operate.
Poverty trap: A condition in which interacting disadvantages make it difficult for people to escape persistent poverty. Benefit withdrawal rules can worsen poverty traps when earning more causes a steep loss of support.
Social assistance: Public support for people in need, generally funded by taxation rather than individual contributions. Tax-funded assistance can reach people whose income or work history does not qualify them for insurance.
Payroll tax: A tax levied on wages or employment used to fund public programs or government revenue. Payroll taxes commonly finance contributory benefits and link social protection to formal employment.
Pension: A regular payment that provides income after retirement or in specified circumstances such as disability or a survivor’s loss. Pensions protect people from income loss associated with old age and some forms of incapacity.
Universalism (social policy): The principle that public benefits or services should be available to everyone within a defined population. Universal provision contrasts with benefits restricted by poverty tests or contribution records.
Income inequality: The uneven distribution of income among individuals or households in a population. Taxes and transfers can reduce disposable-income inequality, depending on their design and coverage.

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