Get Guardian on GoogleAbout 3.8 billion people worldwide remained without any social protection benefit, as rising inequality, economic pressures, and changing labour markets expose the limits of existing welfare systems, prompting renewed calls for governments to turn policy commitments into concrete protection for vulnerable populations.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) disclosed this at a global conference in Geneva, Switzerland, where governments, workers’ and employers’ organisations, international institutions and civil society representatives called for stronger political commitment, sustainable financing and effective national policies to achieve universal social protection.
According to the ILO’s World Social Protection Report 2024–26, only 52.4 per cent of the world’s population is covered by at least one social protection benefit, leaving nearly half of humanity without basic protection against economic and social risks.
Participants warned that the coverage gap was becoming more urgent as climate change, demographic shifts, technological transformation and widening inequalities increased the need for comprehensive social protection systems.
The concerns featured prominently at the conference, ‘Universal Social Protection in a Changing World: Advancing Social Development and Decent Work’, held recently at the ILO headquarters.
The ILO, the World Bank, and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung are part of the Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (USP2030).
Speaking at the conference, Co-Director of the World Inequality Lab at the Paris School of Economics, Lucas Chancel, cited Scandinavian countries’ experience in reducing income inequality during the 20th century through expanded social protection and progressive taxation.
Similarly, Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Co-chair of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation, Jayati Ghosh, said the economic and developmental benefits of social protection needed greater recognition.
On translating political commitments into national policies, participants recalled the Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha in 2025, where governments reaffirmed the importance of national social protection policies and strategies.
Similarly, Pierre Vincensini, Special Adviser at the International Organisation of Employers, stressed the importance of adapting social protection systems to changing employment conditions and workers’ transitions between jobs.
He said protection mechanisms needed to reflect people’s changing circumstances throughout their working lives.
In her closing remarks, the Chief of the ILO Universal Social Protection Branch, Valérie Schmitt, called for coherent national policies, sustained investment, strong institutions and international cooperation to translate political commitments into effective access to comprehensive and sustainable social protection.
