De-facto gaps in social protection for standard and non-standard workers : An approach for monitoring the accessibility and levels of income support

Social protection systems play a key stabilising role for individuals and societies, especially in the recent context of heightened uncertainties. This paper proposes a new empirical approach for quantifying the accessibility and value of income transfers following an earnings loss. The approach allows to estimate and monitor gaps in the accessibility and value of social transfers between so-called “standard” and “non-standard” workers. It first presents a methodology for assessing support levels for jobless individuals in specific circumstances that allows for comparisons across countries and over time. It then illustrates the approach using longitudinal survey data in 16 OECD countries.