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A wide and established body of research evidence has consistently shown how the effective provision of social protection benefits and the promotion of gender equality are among the key tools for addressing shocks, vulnerability and poverty. It is largely to this end that these ideals implicitly feature throughout the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and explicitly in two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The first is SDG 1 on poverty reduction, target 1.3 of which calls for the implementation of nationally appropriate social protection systems, measures and floors for all. The second is SDG 5, which aims to achieve gender equality and empowerment for all women and girls. Despite this, women across the world continue to receive contributory social security benefits that are notably lower than those of men. There is, therefore, a need for a critical and deeper understanding of policy, legislative and programmatic factors that underlie gender gaps in social protection provision. To contribute to knowledge in this regard, and while not aiming to address the intractable challenge of labour market formalization, this article draws on qualitative data from case studies conducted in 2022 among informal economy and other traditionally unprotected workers in three countries in sub‐Saharan Africa (Mozambique, United Republic of Tanzania, and Togo), the region with the highest proportion of informal workers. The aim was to explore the extent to which these workers, who are predominantly women, have access to the various elements of maternity protection. The results showed the extent to which explicit legislative and policy frameworks as well as knowledge and service context often limit women's access to maternity protection. The article draws on the key findings to provide strategic recommendations for designing and effectively implementing more gender‐responsive social protection benefits in developing economy contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides a brief overview of the social impacts of the COVID‐19 crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean, presenting how these are intertwined with a structural deficit of social protection systems. It also describes the main features of the emergency social protection responses adopted by Latin American countries that are relevant to the ongoing debate on an emergency basic income. Finally, it discusses the role, implications, and challenges in implementing an emergency basic income as a sustainable entitlement, embedded in the social protection system, to be activated in times of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the enactment of Statutory Instrument No. 72 (2019), Zambia is extending pension coverage to workers in the informal economy. We present evidence on the experiences and perspectives of domestic workers and bus and taxi drivers regarding pension scheme coverage in Zambia. We use data generated through interviews and focus group discussions. The analysis shows that pension schemes, as conventionally designed for formal economy employees, are not compatible with the values, beliefs and needs of informal economy workers, and pension coverage was not a priority for them. As a form of social innovation, extending access to pension coverage had a lower relative advantage and lacked incentives to attract informal economy workers. We propose a member‐centred framework for initiating the extension of social security coverage to informal economy workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been increasing recognition of the growth of informal employment in the global South and North. Most informal work is precarious and low paid, with workers having little or no access to social protection. It is sometimes suggested that an approach that moves away from productivism - the idea of work as a pathway to access social protection - and towards a universal human rights-based approach is important. However, this article argues that a large and growing informal economy does not provide justification for abandoning certain key productivist ideas. Key ideas that should not be abandoned include the focus that this approach has on establishing a link between workers and capital and the importance of social services within a social protection discourse that is presently dominated by cash grants. Also important, productivist ideas emphasize the economic contributions of informal workers as a means by which to complement a human rights-based argument for the extension of workplace protection to all workers, regardless of employment status. Overall, the hard binary that is sometimes drawn between human rights-based approaches and productivist (or 'instrumentalist') arguments may not always be as definitively delineated as some might suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extension of social protection to all has become a central policy objective, both nationally and internationally. A considerable number of middle- and low-income countries have undertaken substantial efforts to extend social protection, while the international community reaffirmed its commitment to the extension of social protection through the adoption of the ILO Recommendation concerning National Floors of Social Protection, No. 202 (2012). This article reviews the legal provisions and the implementation of the Indian Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), legislated in 2005, and does so in the light of the more recent provisions of ILO Recommendation No. 202. Since its introduction ten years ago, MGNREGA has provided a source of income to rural workers, increased wage rates, achieved high female participation rates and created durable assets. India's local governance bodies, Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI), have been empowered and involved in the processes of planning and monitoring. However, despite successes, there have been considerable shortcomings in implementation. This article highlights two central themes: first, the innovative policy framework of the Act, which brings together rights-based entitlements, demand-driven employment, and citizen-centred monitoring. Second, it assesses the accessibility and adequacy of benefits in the implementation of MGNREGA. We conclude that MGNREGA offers potential for South-South learning, both in terms of policy-design and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]