September 2021
27Sep

Ghana. Cocoa farmers pension scheme takes off October 2021

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Joseph Boahen Aidoo, has announced that the much-anticipated cocoa farmers pension scheme will start in October 2021 for cocoa farmers in Ghana. He said that the scheme, once fully operational, would help farmers enjoy a decent retirement benefit after years of active farming, adding, “This adds to the several fantastic strides this government hopes to leave behind.” Mr Boahen Aidoo made this announcement at the signing ceremony of a $1.5 billion...

September 27, 2021
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21Sep

Singapore- Ministry of Manpower Sets up Advisory Committee to Protect GIG Economy Workers

Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower announced the formation of the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers. The Committee aims to strengthen protections for self-employed persons who work for online platforms, specifically delivery persons, private-hire car drivers, and taxi drivers. Read also Uber to pay pensions to all its UK drivers, backdated to 2017 At its first meeting last week, the Advisory Committee noted the lack of basic job protections due to the nature of platform work, and decided on three priority areas to...

September 21, 2021
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10Sep

Nigeria is struggling to get informal workers to save

Between a slumping economy and gnawing inflation, Nigerians are finding life tough. Temilola Balogun, who owns a clothing shop in Lagos, the commercial capital, sighs that it is hard to save anything. This is typical: most adults in Africa’s most populous country do not pay into a pension. Few will be able to retire without being supported by their children. Read also Nigerian pension fund asset rises to N12.8 trillion as RSA contributors hits 9.4 million To change this, in 2019...

September 10, 2021
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08Sep

India. PFRDA proposes changes in premature exit rules for Atal Pension Yojana, facilitates timely payment of money

By Navneet Dubey To increase acceptability of Atal Pension Yojana (APY) scheme among informal sector workers, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has proposed modifications in premature exit processing for the benefit of subscribers. APY is a social security scheme administered by PFRDA through banks and the department of post. The scheme offers guaranteed pension benefits to eligible citizens after reaching the age of 60 years, who subscribe and contribute to the scheme. According to a PFRDA circular issued on...

September 8, 2021
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03Sep

World Social Protection Report 2020–22

By ILO Despite progress in recent years in extending social protection in many parts of the world, when the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic hit many countries were still facing significant challenges in making the human right to social security a reality for all. This report provides a global overview of progress made around the world over the past decade in extending social protection and building rights-based social protection systems, including floors, and covers the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In...

September 3, 2021
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August 2021
31Aug

Focusing on ‘What Should MENA Pension Systems Look Like for Next 50 Years’ Annual Arab Pensions Conference 2021 Convenes in Manama

How should we design the MENA pension systems for the next 50 years? How do we want our children and their children to retire one or two generations from today? This is the theme or big question the highly attended annual Arab Pensions Conference 2021 will be tackling in its next edition on the 16th and 17th of November. Read also Does it Matter to be Informal? Type of employment and political opinions in the MENA region Hosted in Manama digitally...

August 31, 2021
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27Aug

US. How to Plan for Retirement in a Gig Economy

Being your own boss. Making your own schedule. Taking control of your career. Those perks and others—including not worrying about being downsized by your company—drive professionals into self-employment all the time. In fact, the gig economy keeps growing year after year. How big is the gig? Pretty enormous. The month before the 2020 pandemic exploded, CNBC reported that independent contractors made up anywhere from 10% to a third of workers. Then, Covid hit, and though some freelancers lost their work,...

August 27, 2021
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03Aug

It’s time to give essential workers the protections they deserve

The world's essential workers have kept things running during the pandemic. But many still lack the protections they deserve, such as maternity pay, pensions or paid sickness leave. An upcoming summit, Essential for Recovery, will give these workers a voice and a space in which to address corporate and social leaders. Justina Kgoele has been picking waste in South Africa for the last 25 years. Her income sustains her family, and her work helps to protect children in her community from picking...

August 3, 2021
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02Aug

2 billion workers of world population are in the informal sector – IMF

The informal economy is a globally widespread and pervasive phenomenon, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has noted. The IMF added that 2 billion workers or 60 percent of the world population participate in the informal sector. Although most prevalent in emerging and developing economies, it is also an important part of advanced economies. Whereas workers and firms may choose to operate in the informal sector to avoid taxes or regulations, 85 percent of all informal workers around the world are in precarious employment in...

August 2, 2021
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July 2021
29Jul

Measuring the Informal Economy

By Gabriel Quiros Romero, Thomas F Alexander, Jennifer Ribarsky This paper proposes a framework for measuring the informal economy that is consistent with internationally agreed concepts and methodology for measuring GDP. Based on the proposed framework, the informal economy “comprises production of informal sector units, production of goods for own final use, production of domestic workers, and production generated by informal employment in formal enterprises.” This proposed framework will facilitate preparation of estimates of the informal economy as a component...

July 29, 2021
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