While the issue of child labor in developing countries has received increased attention in recent years, most of the empirical analysis has been based on one-time cross sectional samples. While this may give an idea of the incidence, and determinants of child labor at one point in time, it is...

How can the income support for the unemployed Filipino workers be improved? The study analyzes both arguments in favor of, and against each of the following programs: unemployment insurance, unemployment assistance, severance pay, unemployment insurance savings accounts, public works, and...

The purpose of the paper is to review the structure and performance of the Czech pension system and examine alternative reform options. The paper shows that in the absence of reform the deficits of the Czech pension system may exceed 8 percent of GDP in 2050. To contain these deficits the paper...

This paper provides an overview of labor market trends, and key policy issues worldwide. It begins with a statistical overview of major indicators relating to the labor market, highlighting the diverging experiences between the high-income countries, and many developing regions. It then reviews...

This paper explores the appropriate development of policy towards mandatory, retirement income streams within this broad framework, paying particular attention to the economic environments relevant to developing economies. After a review of existing practices, numerical simulation techniques are...

The authors analyze child work in Zambia, applying two recent surveys, the Bank's Living Conditions Monitoring Survey (LCMS) of 1998, and the International Labour Organization's (ILO) Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC) of 1999. The analysis aims at...

Social risk management (SRM) is a new means of looking at poverty, risk, and risk management that was recently presented in the World Bank's Social Protection Strategy Paper. The SRM perspective addresses how vulnerable households can be helped to better manage risks and become less susceptible...

A large number of public pension schemes around the world have accumulated significant reserves. Pre-funding might reduce the risk that future governments will not be able to meet pension obligations. The management of these funds therefore, has a direct effect on financial sustainability and...

Current statistics on child labor are generally based on economically active children. This paper will argue that these figures are not a workable proxy for data on child labor, generating numbers of child laborers, and their gender composition that do not represent the group described by the...

This paper is an attempt to shed some light on issues relating to social protection in transition countries, emerging from ethnic conflict. It analyzes how constraints posed both by conflict itself, and its ethnic nature, affect social protection policies, and suggests ways out. Both conflict,...