The Social Security Space

Better Life Index: OECD

2012-01-24T12:57:00.000-08:00

The Better Life Index allows you to compare well-being across countries, based on 11 topics the OECD has identified as essential, in the areas of material living conditions and quality of life. You can check the performance of countries and build your own index here.

ILO: urban unemployment declined in LAC

2012-01-23T14:13:00.000-08:00

In recent days the ILO presented its Labour Overview report showing a decline in urban unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean, reaching a historic low of 6.8%. The Agency warns of the need to improve job quality. See press release here.

With a weak labor market is not possible to postpone the retirement age

2012-01-20T09:15:00.000-08:00

The crisis caused more workers want to delay the retirement. However, this could be limited by the labor market. In a weak labor market, work may not be available for all older workers who wish to keep working. More information here.

The deficit of the pension system in Brazil has been reduced

2012-01-19T10:16:00.000-08:00

In 2011 the deficit of the pension system in Brazil declined, thus registering his best result since 2002. More information here and here.

Two important news about pensions in Mexico

2012-01-17T12:25:00.000-08:00

The first news is that the Presidency of the Republic announced that from 2012 the "70 y Más" program will expand its coverage to urban areas. The program will give 500 pesos a month to adults over 70 years living in marginalized urban areas. More information here.
The second news is that CONSAR introduced a new measure of net return. The change aims to provide workers with more tools to help them in their decision to choose the most profitable fund. More information here.

Paraguay have plans to include social security to homemakers and domestic workers

2012-01-17T10:43:00.001-08:00

The Social Security Institute (IPS) of Paraguay presented to Congress the draft law to housewives and domestic workers may receive retirement. More information here and here.

Interesting comments on the unemployment in the United States, Posner and Becker

2012-01-16T12:16:00.000-08:00

This note present comments on the unemployment in the United States. Posner and Becker talk about the importance of structural unemployment in the country.

Ecuador: Increases by 21% social insurance affiliation

2012-01-11T12:53:00.000-08:00

In Ecuador, the general compulsory security (Seguro General Obligatorio) grew to approximately 380,000 beneficiaries (21%) during 2011. According to the director of the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS) this increase is due to campaigns and processes that began 2 years ago: affiliate small, medium and large enterprises, and domestic service. More information here.

ECLAC perspectives for 2012

2012-01-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we talk about IMF expectations for Latin America in 2012. Today we present the ECLAC perspectives. According to the Organization, Latin America and the Caribbean will grow by 3.7% in 2012 amid global uncertainty and volatility.

IMF expectations for Latin America in 2012

2012-01-09T14:04:00.000-08:00

The International Monetary Fund does not forecast a recession for the countries of Latin America in 2012, but forecast weak growth in the region due to the confidence and commodity prices have been falling. To view the complete note of IMF expectations click here.

Increases employment in the United States ... Acceleration of economic activity?

2012-01-06T10:16:00.000-08:00

The US unemployment rate fell to its lowest level (8.5%) for almost three years. This may mean that the economic recovery may finally be building up a head of steam. More information here.

France implements measures to stimulate growth

2012-01-04T08:28:00.000-08:00

The French government announced some measures to stimulate growth and protect jobs. Raising the rate of VAT to finance labor costs and thus it will be possible to reduce the contributions tax work. For more information see here and here.

Two interesting papers today

2012-01-02T12:14:00.000-08:00

The first paper is "Catch-up Growth Followed by Stagnation: Mexico, 1950-2010" by Timothy J. Kehoe and Felipe Meza and analyzes the economic history of Mexico from 1877 to 2010. The country grew rapidly from 1950 to 1981, where despite the liberalization of foreign trade and investment growth was stalled by the crises of 1982 and 1995. If Mexico want to resume higher levels today, it needs further reforms.

The second article "The Rise of the Disability UnSustained Rolls in the United States: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Options" by David H. Autor analyzes the feasibility, lack of efficiency and the challenges of the Social Security Disability Insurance program (SSDI).

Mental health at work

2011-12-20T11:06:00.000-08:00

According to the OECD, mental illness in workplace is a growing problem and now affects 20 percent of workers in all countries of the Organization. Its report entitled "Sick on the Job? Myths and Realities about Mental Health at Work" says that one in five workers suffer from mental illness, such as depression or anxiety, and many have problems to overcome. And what is worse, three in four workers with mental illnes show a decline in productivity at work. More information here.

Indicators of old-age pension benefits in the Americas

2011-12-19T11:12:00.000-08:00

Finally, Chapter 7 of the Americas Social Security Report 2012 is aimed at monitoring pension benefits with a perspective of fairness and financial sustainability. By knowing the value of future pension benefits, we can also have a proxy of the debt incurred by social security institutions and governments through their social security pension programs.

Two mail indicators of pension benefits are examined: replacement rates and pension wealth. The average gross replacement rate across CISS-member countries (exluding U.S. and Canada), salaries and gender is 48.9 (average net replacement rate is 54.3). The average gross pension wealth across the distribution of salaries in all LAC countries is 8.4 times the annual salary (average net pension wealth is 9.3)

Key features of general pension regimes for old age

2011-12-16T11:51:00.000-08:00

Chapter 6 of the Americas Social Security Report 2012 outlines the methods used to perform the calculations, describes the common patterns found in the formulas defined by legislations to calculate old-age pensions, and discusses the more critical assumptions needed to reach calculations of the next chapter.

The chapter describes the main features of general pension regimes for old age. Among these features are: design, minimum and maximum pensions, pensionable ages, early and late retirement, and years of contribution.

Universal child allowance and education

2011-12-16T06:12:00.000-08:00

This op-ed by Edgardo Zablotsky comments on the interaction between social protection and education. Apparently, the adoption of the Universal Allowance for Children in Argentina has meant an improved level of attendance to school and has resulted in higher results in standardized tests.

Work for older adults, technology and health

2011-12-15T13:12:00.000-08:00

Chapter 5 of the Americas Social Security Report 2012 discusses the extent to which older adults are able to find decent and dignified work after the age of 60, balancing technological, medical, and preventive advantages, but recognizing that illness and fragility are a really for a large portion of the population.

Under the current structure of social security schemes, individuals do not have the necessary incentives to plan renewing their professional career. To facilitate the renewal of careers is required changes in educational programs and job training, and labor laws.

Collective decisions on retirement

2011-12-14T11:36:00.000-08:00

Chapter 4 of the Americas Social Security Report 2012 aims to review the policy debates around the setting of retirement ages. Review the most important approaches and findings of the politics behind retirement decisions. Governments have to make decisions on the amount of taxes and benefits to be paid, the statutory retirement age, and on the conditions offered to adults in pre-retirement ages.

In the Americas there is a pending agenda regarding pension reform to adjust retirement ages vis-à-vis life expectancy increases, as well as standardizing retirement ages across sexes.

Mexico: Approve the return Infonavit resources to retirees

2011-12-14T08:16:00.000-08:00

The Senate approved amendments to the Law of Infonavit with which all workers who have not exercised their home loan may recover their contributions, enjoying a second loan and hire their loans in pesos, not minimum wages. Complete note here.

Individual decisions on retirement

2011-12-13T13:24:00.000-08:00

Chapter 3 of the Americas Social Security Report 2012 analyzes how "social security wealth" or "pension entitlements" are generated, and how retirees spend their money. The realization of a retirement even does not depend only, and often not even mainly, upon the parameters of a retirement scheme. Individuals may decide to withdraw from the labor market before the statutory retirement age or to work several years more for reasons of need, family conditions, health, or personal motivation.

These are some of the results of the chapter:
- Individuals work more when their earnings are high and growing, and when they decline or their growth is sluggish, retirement becomes a more attractive option every year.
- More educated individuals tend to retire later in life because earnings growth is higher for them.
- Often workers move from a salaried job to the informal economy to improve their earnings levels.
- Labor market conditions affect workers' decisions on retirement.
- Consumption and work decisions are closely linked. When retirement can induce an excessive fall in consumption, individuals may decide to put it off for a few years.
- Persons seek to stabilize welfare, avoiding alternate periods of high well-being with others of a poor quality of life

Labor market behavior and retirement in the Americas

2011-12-12T13:21:00.000-08:00

Chapter II of the Americas Social Security Report 2012 describes the main regional trends in labor variables around statutory retirement ages. It analyzes labor force participation, intensity of work by older adults, earnings of wotking older adults, characteristics of occupied labor, and urban/rural comparisons.

In previous notes we saw some graphs and results, but these are the main conclusions of the chapter:
- Individuals around retirement ages are working more in the Americas when compare 2010 with 1970, with few exceptions.
- There remains a decline in participation in the labor force that usually begins around age 50 and accelerates at age 60.
- Those staying in the market after age 50 have low unemployment, but they work gradually less hours per week.
- There is a very sharp decline in average earnings after age 50 in Latin America.
- By age 60, workers have become self-employed or employers.
- Young women work more in the urban sector, whereas adult women have higher participation in rural areas. Men in the rural sector have higher participation rates, except for the age groups between 30 and 59 years ald when rates are similar. Hours worked and wages are always higher in urban areas.

The Americas Social Security Report 2012

2011-12-09T14:32:00.000-08:00

The Americas Social Security Report 2012, conducted by the CISS, analyzes how women and men work and decide on retirement around "normal" or "statutory" retirement ages and how social bodies make decisions on that significand social and political issue. It presents a set of standardized calculations of benefits of the pension systems of the region under current regulations that can be used to compare policies across countries.

Chapter 2 presents data on labor market variables along the life cycle but with special emphasis on workers between ages 50 and 69. Chapters 3 and 4 deal with the economics of retirement ages, both from individual and societal points of view. Chapter 5 states a question that should figure much more prominently on the retirement-age agenda: How much can the "older adult" really work? Chapter 6 summarizes the legislation on old age retirement following a standardized approach of comparisons of systems in America countries. Finally, Chapter 7 compares indicators of general retirement systems in the region.

The Afore in Mexico will charge a lower commission

2011-12-08T14:34:00.000-08:00

Consar approved for lower commissions Afore. The weighted average will pass from 1.44 to 1.32% in 2012. This measure benefits workers who will pay less for the Afore. Complete note here.

More on the major reform to the pension system in Brazil

2011-12-07T14:30:00.000-08:00

The minister of the pension system in Brazil called on Wednesday to approve the reform to the public sector pension system in Brazil. He also mentioned the importance of expanding the pension reform around the country, because if not done, future generations will pay a high price. Complete note here.

Increasing inequality

2011-12-05T13:21:00.000-08:00

This OECD Report analyzes the increased income inequality in several OECD countries although they have had a sustained economic and employment growth.

Discussing changes to the pension scheme in the public sector in Brazil

2011-12-02T13:25:00.000-08:00

Brazil's public sector discussed changes to its pension scheme. The government proposes to increase the rate of contribution to public sector pensions. Complete note here.

Jamaica and Eastern Caribbean: Longer life - Low quality

2011-11-30T14:28:00.000-08:00

Life expectancy in Jamaica and the Eastern Caribbean is increasing. However, this does not mean that longer life will have higher quality. A recent World Bank study warns that Jamaica and the Eastern Caribbean are facing a health crisis with rising rates of heart disease, diabetes, obesity and other non-communicable diseases, which significantly affect poor families because they pay for medical treatment out of their own pockets.

Winners of the Inter-American Award for Research on Social Security 2011

2011-11-28T14:18:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to the winners of this year:

First place (tied): Marcelo Bergolo and Guillermo Cruces for their paper titled “Labor Informality and the Incentive Effects of Social Security: Evidence from a Health Reform in Uruguay”. This paper studies the incentive effects of social security benefits on labor market informality following a policy reform in Uruguay. The reform extended health benefits to dependent children of private sector salaried workers. Compares workers with children (affected by the reform) and those without children (unaffected by the reform). Results indicate that informality rates fell significantly by about 1.3 percentage points (a 5 percent change) among workers in the treatment group with respect to those in the control group.

First place (tied): Fernando Borraz and Nicolas Gonzalez Pampillon for their paper titled “Assesing the Distributive Impact of More than Doubling the Minimum Wage: The Case of Uruguay”. The paper analyzes the role of the sharply increases in the minimum wage after 2004 in Ururguay in the slight decrease on wage inequality. They find no impact of the minimum wage increases on wage inequality. The Uruguayan experience shows that the minimum wage is not always effective as a redistribution instrument.

Third place: Alvaro Forteza and Guzman Ourens for their paper titled “Redistribution, Insurance and Incentives to Work in Latin American Pension Programs”. The paper present a new database of social security indicators for eleven Latin American countries designed to show how much they promise to pay in return to contributions. The results indicated that most programs are progressive. The length of service has a strong impacto on the expected return contributions.

We thank all participants of this year and invite researchers around the continent to participate in next year edition.

Design of primary health care

2011-11-28T13:18:00.000-08:00

The study by Chan and others deals witht the problem of coordinating different "levels" of providers in the health system. This is one of the most complex challenges to tie the needs of patients with the capabilities of providers. Two extreme departures are systems of reference and counter-reference and the market. Each one has its own mechanisms to reduce or eliminate duplicate attentions, prevent hospitalizations, improve patient safety and reduce costs. Each has also shown its limitations, and each country has sought financial incentives to improve outcomes. One problem looming large is that in the absence of well-developed and standardized measures of care coordination it is not easy to link the conduct of doctors and hospitals with incentives. While there are expectations that electronic health records will support solutions, it will not be easy to identify the new forms of coordination, and not what has in the pre-digital era. For social insurance this is topic of central importance because it defines how to structure to primary health care and compensation to doctors and hospitals, as well as control how patients move or are moved within the health system.

Pension reform in Nicaragua

2011-11-23T11:47:00.000-08:00

The National Social Security Institute of Nicaragua has issued a proposal to strengthen the pension system. The main initiatives are to increase the rates of contribution, to promote affiliation of young workers, to increase the cap on maximum taxable wages, to increase the statutory age at retirement to 65, to increase the bonus for extra years of contribution, and to create an option for individual savings managed by the INSS.

Education in social security: the informed work more

2011-11-22T22:10:00.000-08:00

The relevance of education in social security is the subject of research in this paper by Jeff Liebman and Enzo Luttmer.They performed an experiment in which a group of workers was informed about basic provisions of the social security system, while another group was not informed. After one year, the informed group was working more than the uninformed group (4%), with the effect being larger for women (7%). The authors believe that the reason is that the informed understand that working more results in a higher pension.

Spain approved the strategy "55 and Over"

2011-11-03T15:57:00.000-07:00

The Spanish government approved the Global Strategy for Employment "55 and Over", which seeks to promote employment among older people, promote the extension of working life, and improve safety and health at work. More information here.

In Mexico, 28.5% of the EAP will live without a pension and in poverty

2011-10-31T15:13:00.000-07:00

In Mexico, 28.5% of the economically active population (EAP) works in the informal sector, and without any type of coverage, they may (or already) arrived to the elderly destitute. More information here.

"Gender equality bonus" in Switzerland

2011-10-28T09:36:00.000-07:00

In Sweden, in addition to fathers already receive great benefits with couples sharing maternity leave, the parliament has just approved an "gender equality bonus" of 3,000 swedish kronor (£ 287) each month for couples in which the father takes over caring for the baby. More information here.

Successful Fulfillment of the “Putting Citizen First” 2011 International Program by Service Canada College

2011-10-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

Following last year agreement between the Inter-American Conference on Social Security (CISS) and Service Canada College, the “Putting Citizen First” 2011 International Program took place for the second time, with the main goal of transmitting to officers of CISS member institutions important concepts regarding Canada’s experience in citizen-centered services.

This course took place in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and counted on the participation of five officers from the following CISS member institutions: the Agency of Health and Working Risks of the Dominican Republic; the National Insurance Services of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; and Mexico’s Social Security Institute.

The participants of this course went back home very satisfied, full of new knowledge to share with their coworkers.

The CISS looks forward to continuing collaborating with Service Canada College with more courses for officers of member institutions.

Joint Annual Technical Meeting of the American Legal Social Commission (CAJS) and Sub-Region V: Mexico and the Latin Caribbean, in Havana, Cuba.

2011-10-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

On Thursday 20 and Friday October 21, in the Taganana Meeting Room of the historical National Hotel in the Habana, Cuba, took place the Joint Technical Meeting of the CAJS and Sub-Region V, with the main thematic of the "Transformation of Labor Legislation and Social Protection in Ages Close to Retirement", thanks to the kind support of Cuba’s Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

The meeting consisted of five technical conferences on retirement issues and a sub-regional panel which was attended by representatives of different countries, who spoke on the legal reforms of the retirement age. The speakers who participated were Dr. Gabriel Martínez, Secretary General of the CISS; Ms. Bárbara López, Legal Director of Cuba’s National Social Security Institute; Mr. Walter Funes of the Salvadoran Social Security Institute; Dr. Rafael Modesto Pérez, General Manager of the National Council for Social Security of the Dominican Republic; Dr. Jorge D'Angelo, President of the American Commission for Older Adults; Dr. Estela Altalef, Academic of AMAOTE; Dr. Alberto Fernandez, Director of Care for the Elderly of the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba; Dr. Victor Hugo Borja, Head of the Coordination of Epidemiological Surveillance from the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), Eduardo Morales Aguirre, Coordinator of Social Benefits IMSS; Dr. Martha Miranda, Researcher of the CISS; Verónica Zetter, Coordinator of Institutional Risk Management of IMSS, and Dr. Fidel Ferreras, Social Security Consultant and Former Director of the National Social Security Institute of Spain. As part of the presidium of the meeting, we counted on the distinguished participation of Ms. Yusimí Campos, Cuba’s National Director of Social Security; Mr. Josue Argeñal of Hondura’s Social Security Institute for Law Professionals, and Technical Secretary of the CAJS; Mr. Iker Reyes, Deputy Director of International Affairs at the Institute of Security and Social Services for State Workers, Mexico (ISSSTE), and Dr. Martínez.

One of the most important aspects of this meeting was the presentation of The Americas Social Security Report 2012 by the CISS, and in particular the results of the analysis of social security systems’ expected benefits for retirement in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In total, the meeting was attended by 45 officers from twelve social security institutions and 9 countries from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

In the following days, you will be able to find all the material of the event (presentations, pictures and list of attendants) directly at the CISS webpage: www.ciss.org.mx

International Breast Cancer Day

2011-10-19T09:58:00.000-07:00

Today, October 19, we celebrate the International Breast Cancer Day. 98% of women who found early, manages to save her life. AUTOEXPLORATE and join in the pink.

Obama drops long-term health care program

2011-10-17T13:10:00.000-07:00

The Obama administration has decided to end the long-term health program because they could not find a financiallly sustainable model for it. See more here.

The CISS and the IADB host the 1st Meeting of the ELPS

2011-10-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

On October 4th and 5th, the CISS hosted the first Workshop for the “Regional Strategy to Design a Longitudinal Social Protection Survey (ELPS for its acronym in Spanish)”, an important regional developed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the CISS, and the Microdata Center of the University of Chile (CMD). Its main objective is to create a panel survey focusing on social protection in eight Latin-American countries: Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay. The workshop had participants from all the selected countries as well as the institutions in charge of the ELPS at a regional level. Likewise we were honored with Mitchell Seligson assistance, director of Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP), as peer reviewer. The event took place in the CISS headquarters in Mexico City. It was a technical workshop where participants discussed fundamental topics for the successful implementation of the ELPS, which will contribute to improve labor and social protection policies in the region.

(from left to right, following the table’s order) Renata Pardo from Colombia, Javiera Vásquez from Chile CMD, Sandra Quijada from Chile CMD, Fidel Miranda from Chile CMD, Alberto Arenas from Chile CMD, David Bravo from Chile CMD, Mitchell Seligson from LAPOP, Carmen Pagés del BID, David Kaplan del BID, Ana Paula Sánchez del BID, Rosario Maldonado y Adriana Rodríguez from Ecuador, Melissa González y Yolanda Barrios from Paraguay, Adriana Scardino from Uruguay y Haydeé Macías from México.

Congratulations to Diane Braunstein!

2011-10-12T09:48:00.000-07:00

The CISS congratulates Diane Braunstein, Social Security Executive, for winning the 2011 Citizen Services Medal in the United States.

Public workers according to Posner and Becker

2011-10-11T13:31:00.000-07:00

Posner and Becker discussed the problem of the number of public workers and the fiscal problems involved.

The difficulties of establishing a basic benefits package

2011-10-10T14:55:00.000-07:00

In this link we can see how difficult it is to establish basic benefit packages.

ILO warns of major labour market decline

2011-10-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

A study prepared by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the OECD warns of major G20 labour market decline in 2012 and a serious jobs shortfall by 2015. More information here.

In LAC one in five people receive CCT

2011-10-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

In Latin America and the Caribbean, one in five people receive conditional cash transfers (CCT). The transfers are intended for poor families with school-age children and pregnant women. The condition is that the children go to school or participate in health screenings, and nutrition. More information here.

Age discrimination induces earlier retirement

2011-10-06T15:58:00.000-07:00

According to research by David Neumark and Joanne Song, reforms to social security to delay retirement ages may be frustrated by age discrimination. Apparently, state-level regulations to prevent age discrimination favored a stronger result in terms of delays in retirement ages after the reforms to the federal pension program of the United States.

World Bank: Gender equality raise productivity

2011-10-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

According to the World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development published by the World Bank, create better opportunities and conditions for women and girls can raise productivity, improve outcomes for children, make institutions more representative, and advance development prospects for all.

Spain: More crisis effects

2011-10-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

The cuts in social spending continue to affect services in Spain. In Catalonia this is meaning longer lines in the health services ...

Opinions about Obama's job plan

2011-09-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

These are the views of Posner and Becker on Obama's jobs plan

NHS ends IT proyect

2011-09-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

In the UK, health secretary, ministers and NHS (National Health System) chief executive have preferred to suspend the computarised patient record programme rather than put even more money into it. The program had years of delays, in addition to technical difficulties, contractual disputes and rising costs. Complete note here.

Effects of designing retirement plan default options

2011-09-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

Decision making and information gathering on the design of pension plans are costly, so default options matter. Here a study of the WSJ reporting some of the effects of these default settings.

The number or young adults covered by health insurance increases in the United States

2011-09-22T11:21:00.000-07:00

Even with the recession, the number of young adults covered by health insurance in the United States increased by about one million. Complete note here.

In Peru more than 8 million people have no pension

2011-09-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

Peru is a highly informal economy where 58% of people (8 million approximately) in age to contribute to a pension system does not. Complete note here.

Elderly health should be priority: UN

2011-09-21T13:13:00.000-07:00

UN warns that due to aging, the health of older adults should be a priority. Complete note here.

Social guarantees to design social policies in the Eastern Caribbean

2011-09-20T08:38:00.000-07:00

The volume "Building Citizenship Through Social Policy in the Eastern Caribbean: The Role of Social Guarantees" produced by the World Bank and the Organization of American States aims to demonstrate how the social guarantees approach can be applied to social policy design, delivery and monitoting at the country level in the Eastern Caribbean. The volume emphasizes the merits of using the approach of social guarantees in the different countries.

If you are interested in the entire volume leave us your email and we will gladly send it.

US recession and its impact on the poor

2011-09-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

In the United States recession has had different impacts on the poor. In rural areas, poverty remained unchanged last year, while in suburbs it reached historic levels. More information here.

Opinions about Obama's Job Plan

2011-09-14T09:26:00.001-07:00

Some views on the employment stimulus plan from President Obama here.

Obama's "Job Plan"

2011-09-09T10:01:00.000-07:00

Obama challenged Congress to pass his "Job Plan" which aims to revive the U.S. economy through new government spending and tax cuts, including reducing payroll taxes. Complete note here.

Determinants of high life expectancy in Japan

2011-09-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

Life expectancy in Japan is the world's highest, 86 for women and 80 for men. This is due to three main factors: diet, equity and public health measures. More information here.

Casual description of Korean health insurance

2011-09-06T15:55:00.000-07:00

One of the systems considered more successful in achieving universal coverage of health insurance among emerging economies is South Korea. This is a casual although illustrative description.

Subsidies for adopting older children in Ontario, Canada

2011-09-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

To leave no child without a family, in Ontario, Canada adoption subsidies would be offered to parents who adopt siblings and children age 10 and older. Complete note here.

Gender equality: the child bonus

2011-08-30T04:51:00.000-07:00

A challenge for pension systems is to achieve gender equity. It is common that in a couple, the man works while the woman stays at home to have children and care for them. Entitlement to a pension is usually related to work experience. A compensating mechanism is the bonus per child in Chile. This is an amount received by the woman through her individual retirement account and is used to increase the value of her pension; it can not be withdrawn as a lump sum, but can be used to improve the value of a pension after age 65

The deficit in Brazil´s social security system narrowed 24%

2011-08-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

The deficit in Brazil's social security system narrowed 24% in real terms in July this year compared to the same month last year, thanks to the collection of revenue in an still growing economy. Complete note here.

Pension program in Peru

2011-08-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

The President of Peru announced that this year will start a pension program for people over 65 in poor areas of the country. The program seeks to provide 250 soles (93 dollars) per month. Complete note here.

Data on the U.S. social security

2011-08-24T13:46:00.000-07:00

This link of Fast Facts & Figures provides answers to frequently asked questions about the programs SSA administers in theU.S. It highlights basic program data for the Social Security (retirement, survivors, and disability) and Supplemental Security Income programs.

In addition, this note talks about the financial problems facing the disability program of social security due to the large amount of benefit claims by fired workers and the aging of baby boomers.

Privacy in waiting lists

2011-08-23T14:35:00.000-07:00

What is the value of privacy in waiting lists?

Dominican Republic: Low wages support the SDP

2011-08-23T10:12:00.000-07:00

Most of the contributions to the Dominican System of Pensions (SDP) corresponds to low wages, with 59% of workers with incomes below RD $ 10,000 ($ 263 USD) and only 13% of over RD $ 25,000 ($ 658 USD). For more information click here.

Managing regulations on patient admissions

2011-08-23T08:06:00.000-07:00

With increasing regulations to contain cost of health insurance, hospitals face substantial pressure to comply with regulations to admit patients. "Over the last two decades, the demand for hospital services in the United States has been on the rise. Inpatient admissions have increased by 14 percent and emergency department (ED) visits by 40 percent, while the number of staffed hospital beds has dropped by 15 percent.". This has led to new forms of organization of hospitals, and an interesting application for a South-Side hospital in Chicagto can be found here.

Family pension in Colombia

2011-08-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

The wave of reform to pension systems during the nineties increased the number of periods of contributions required to obtain a pension. In Colombia this parameter is 1,200 weeks. Over time, it has been seen that many individuals do not reach the threshold, and so a new "family pension" is being created. This facility will allow to add the periods of contributions of spouses who do not reach the 1,200 weeks separately, and thus obtain a pension. This solution solves partially a problem faced by individual retirement accounts as they were established in Latin America: a high parameter of periods of contribution results in that many workers have the right to withdraw all their savings at once when they reach the statutory retirement age. This goes against the goal of increasing the coverage of the pension system.

Caribbean people with HIV / AIDS will be able to receive private care

2011-08-22T13:39:00.000-07:00

The summit organized by the Pan Caribbean Partnership (PANCAP) against HIV / AIDS allowed insurance companies and healthcare providers in the region agree that personas in the Caribbean infected with this disease will be able to access private insurance coverage. Complete note here.

Medicaid is cheaper than Medicare

2011-08-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

Many prescription drugs have deeper discounts in Medicaid than in Medicare. The reason may be that Medicaid discounts are set by law, while Medicare prices are negotiated by private health insurers and drug companies. Complete note here.

South Africa launches National Health Insurance

2011-08-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

Following other countries in several parts of the World, South Africa approved the implementation of a National Health Insurance. See note here.

Lockout of pharmacies in Spain, Castilla-La Mancha

2011-08-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

Against liquidity constraints, health systems tend to cut variable expenses to balance their finances. Sometimes, these are critical to the welfare of patients. In Spain, a community facing problems and a lockout of pharmacies due to delays in payments is Castilla-La Mancha.

15.5 million child domestic workers in the world

2011-08-10T11:48:00.000-07:00

At least 15.5 million children (age 5 to 17) were engaged in domestic work in 2008. This represents almost 5 per cent of all economically active children in this age group. The number of girls in domestic work far outnumbers that of boys. Asia, Africa and Latin America are the regions most affected by this problem. This ILO document presents the problem, causes and hazards of child domestic labor, and the Convention and Recommendation adopted to fight against this phenomenon.

The aging population is expanding south

2011-08-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

There is a steady increase in the proportion of people over 65 in the South, making aging a global phenomenon. This highlights the importance of implementing public policies that ensure benefits delivery of social security to the elderly. On the website of the organization HelpAge International are several articles and news on global aging.

Supplementary pensions in Honduras

2011-08-02T12:59:00.000-07:00

The Congress of Honduras debates over new legislation to provide monetary benefits to older adults not covered by social security. This country with very low coverage of social security has only around 50 thousand retirees, but 700 thousand older adults.

Increased poverty in Mexico

2011-08-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

On Friday 29 July the National Evaluation Council (Consejo Nacional de Población CONEVAL) released results of the 2010 poverty measure for each state and the country as a whole. Between 2008 and 2010 the country's population in poverty increased from 44.5% to 46.2%, representing an increase of 48.8 to 52.0 million people. For details of the results to click here.

Impact of Social Security

2011-07-29T08:22:00.001-07:00

In this note a very interesting summary of the work of Kevin Milligan, a specialist in social security.

Changes to the investment regime of the Afore

2011-07-28T11:26:00.000-07:00

Mexico has announced further adjustments to the investment of the Administrators of Retirement Funds (Afore).

1) It rises 5% investment in equities over the 5 basic Siefore.
2) The member may remain voluntarily in the basic Siefore 2 until 60 years old.
3) The resources of pension funds may also be channeled through medium-sized companies as an endorsement of Nafinsa.

More information here and here.

Growth in the labor participation of older adults

2011-07-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

There seems to be a long-term increase in the work of older adults.This article by Casey Mulligan refers to the issue, and to how it has been influenced by the economic crisis. The upcoming 2012 Americas Social Security Report, to be published in a few months, will deal with this issue.

UN: Youth unemployment increases

2011-07-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

At the United Nations High-level Meeting on Youth, held yesterday and today, the UN reported that the economic recession led to higher youth unemployment. The unemployment rate increased from 11.9 to 13%, which now number 81 million unemployed youth. In addition, the meeting noted that even when they work, young people tend to work longer hours than adults, in exchange for lower wages and informal schemes and no social security. Complete note here.

New database on labor regulations

2011-07-22T05:15:00.000-07:00

Researchers Mariya Aleksynska and Martin Schindler have issued a working paper on a new international database on labor regulations.

Call for Papers: Social Determinants of Health Conference

2011-07-19T09:02:00.000-07:00

The Inter-American Conference on Social Security (CISS) and the Universidad
Iberoamericana (IBERO) are jointly organizing the conference "Social Determinants of
Health". Those interested in sending your paper can access this link where you will find details of the canference and key dates.

Continuing jobless recovery in the U.S.

2011-07-18T14:41:00.000-07:00

In this note we can see what Bill Clinton says about the current jobless recovery that the United States is living (see previous note). Compared to past recessions, openings are being filled at only half of all vacancies even though current unemployment is much higher. Complete note here.

Two interesting papers today

2011-07-15T10:11:00.000-07:00

Two interesting papers today: "Time for Children: Trends in the Employment Patterns of Parents, 1967-2009" and "The Labor Market Impact of Employer Health Benefit Mandates: Evidence from San Francisco's Health Care Security Ordinance."

The first one analyzes two important resources for children’s well-being: time and money. In the prior decades parents who would have remained at home have joined the labor market and as a result of this has increased the income of their children. Time use data from 1975 and 2003-2008 shows that working parents spend less time on primary childcare than parents who do not work, but spend more time than employed parents in of previous cohorts

The influx of Mexicans to the United States stops

2011-07-14T14:20:00.000-07:00

Through this article of the New York Times, Douglas S. Massey, co-director of the Mexican Migration Project at Princeton says that interest of Mexicans go to America to seek a better job had fallen to its lowest levels since 1950. Also for the first time in 60 years, net illegal migration has gone to zero and is probably negative. Perhaps these results are reflected in the increase of 4 million people in the Mexican census of 2010. The article describes the possible reasons for this stagnation.

"Seguro Popular: Evidence of a good public policy"

2011-07-13T09:16:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was held the symposium "Evidence of good public policy: the Seguro Popular." Several studies of evaluation of the program were presented. See the complete note here.

IDB: Labor Markets and Social Security Unit

2011-07-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

Through its Labor Markets and Social Security Unit, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) promotes more and better jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean. Access to the official website here.

In Peru more than a third of informal workers are young

2011-07-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

In Peru more than 12 million people work in the informal sector, and worse, over one third (4.1 million) are young people aged between 14 and 29. Complete note here.

Two interesting notes today

2011-07-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

In Mexico, by an agreement made by the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS), the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) and the National Savings System for Retirement (CONSAR) was launched the program "TU AFORE TU VENTANA "with which it is intended that the Administrators of Retirement Funds (AFORE) support the workers at the time of his retirement. For more information about the program click here.

On the other hand, unemployment in the United States increased in June. The economy added just 18.000 jobs, causing unemployment to rise one percentage point from May to June standing at 9.2% in the last month. Complete note here.

Increase disability claims in Canada

2011-07-07T11:21:00.000-07:00

In Canada, disability claims made by public servants and disabilities related to mental health conditions have been in continuous ascent throughout the decade, reaching last year an all-time high. From 2009 to 2010 the percentage of disability claims of public servants increased by 16%, from 3.320 to 3.874. Click here to see complete note.

Do Americans plan their retirement?

2011-07-06T13:44:00.000-07:00

On a previous note we mentioned the lack of culture for retirement that exists in Mexico. The article "Financial Literacy and Retirement Planning in the United States" shows data for the United States where you can see that for some groups the behavior is similar to that of Mexico. The National Financial Capability Study found that financial education is particularly low among young people, women and less-educated. People with the highest scores in the study are more likely to plan their retirement. See complete paper here.

US healthcare reform and Social Security

2011-07-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

The discrepancies in the health insurance premium that have to pay one persons with a pension and the other one receiving his full income from his job, but otherwise identical persons, illustrates how complex is the design of insurance markets or programs. See the complete note here.

Culture for retirement in Mexico is needed

2011-06-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

The survey "Savings and future: how Mexicans think" developed by the Mexican Association of Fund Administrators Retirement Savings (Amafore) revealed that culture for retirement in Mexico is needed. The survey was conducted in March this year in 2,000 homes in Mexico. Here some results:

- 62% of Mexicans surveyed had not planned their future.
- 49% say that in the future their children will be responsible for their maintenance.
- 6% of households have money in saving for retirement stage.
- 43% do not save.

To access the survey results click here.

Latin America: low growth in social protection

2011-06-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

Social Protection in Latin America has not had the significant growth that has taken the economic aspect in the last decade. Advances in pensions have been very marginal. Labor coverage does not exceed 50% in Colombia, Mexico and Peru. At the same time, these three countries observed rates of informality about 70%. Given this, many of the policies in the region are focusing on the enlargement of the coverage. Complete note here.

Two recent interesting articles on social insurance

2011-06-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

In the article Estimates of Crowd-Out from a Public Health Insurance Expansion Using Administrative Data NBER researchers find that after expansion of eligibility for public coverage in the United States, approximately 20% of new enrollees had access to private health insurance at the time of enrollment and that only 8% dropped this coverage (with the remaining 12% having both private and public coverage). Authors conclude that the crowding out effect is low. In this other article, Disability, Pension Reform and Early Retirement in Germany, author find that despite increasing life expectancy and better health old age Labor Force Participation (or conversely early retirement) is decreasing (increasing). The authors argue that the generosity of the pension system is the main factor that explains the results. This last topic is treated in detail in the CISS Social Security Report 2012 that will be available in the next weeks.

Does the technology can extend the gap in life expectancy?

2011-06-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

Technological change has helped people know more about their own health. Currently there are devices that allow us to collect our personal record of some health indicators, such as weight, body mass and blood pressure. This will help people keep healthier. However, these technological advances can also lengthen the gap in life expectancy between people with high levels of income and education and those with low levels. Complete note here.

Ibero-American Multilateral Agreement on Social Security

2011-06-22T14:21:00.000-07:00

The Ibero-American Multilateral Agreement on Social Security will provide social security benefits to immigrant workers in signatory countries. The Agreement aims to ensure pension minimum coverage to 611 million people. Currently countries who have signed Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Paraguay, Portugal and Uruguay. On May 1, the Agreement entered into force in Spain, Brazil and Bolivia allowing workers in these three countries benefit from the agreement. Complete note here.

Democrats vs Republicans

2011-06-21T14:19:00.000-07:00

Now approaching the U.S. political debates, here are four points that have been discussed among Republicans and Democrats.
1) The value of competition. The Republican proposal to replace the current fee-for-service program, in which the government picks up the bill for medical expenses, with a “premium-support” system in which seniors use federal dollars to choose among competing private insurance plans.
2) The insurance mandate. Obama's plan to force everyone to have health insurance.
3) Taxing the rich. Democrats want to increase taxes on the rich to fund the looming fiscal gap, which is driven largely by soaring health costs.
4) Blinkered optimism. Democrats and Republicans generally have different approaches to controlling the growth of health care spending.
To learn more about these four points click here.

ILO: Adopt labor standards to protect millions of domestic workers worldwide

2011-06-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

The government, worker and employer delegates at the 100th annual Conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO) on Thursday, 16 June adopted a historic set of international standards aimed at improving the working conditions of tens of millions of domestic workers worldwide. Complete note here.