Amid a global proliferation of social protection schemes in the 21st century, a number of countries are attempting to weave individual schemes into comprehensive and coherent systems. This approach is in line with Sustainable Development Goals Target 1.3 to “implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all”. The systems-building process usually begins with formulating a social protection policy, which lays out a vision for integrating various schemes and achieving better coverage. As of 2015, 77 developing countries had a social protection policy or strategy in place, while 31 countries were planning or formulating one (Honorati, Gentilini and Yemtsov, 2015[1]).
While there is variation across countries, the term social protection system usually refers to a framework whereby the three pillars of social protection – social assistance, social insurance and labour market programmes – are integrated or, at a minimum, co‑ordinated. Integration usually involves creating links among various programmes within each pillar of the social protection system, for example, combining various food security transfers within social assistance.
Integration can also occur across pillars. For example, at an administrative level, various social protection schemes can share data and monitoring systems, which will ideally be linked to other civilian registries. At an operational level, social protection schemes often share enrolment and delivery systems, while at an institutional level, a single institution might be empowered to co‑ordinate social protection activities across sectors and ministries.
Health system policies and mechanisms designed to support universal health coverage can be considered both to cut across the three pillars of social protection and to represent a fourth pillar of a social protection system. Conceptually, universal health coverage is convergent with the objectives of poverty and vulnerability reduction, since it ensures access to health services and that no one suffers undue financial burden from health payments. Operationally, however, universal health coverage and other social protection policies are often implemented under separate governance and administrative set-ups. However, linkages are being developed, for example, in the use of social assistance targeting mechanisms for social health insurance schemes or, as in the case of Cambodia, integration of universal health coverage within a national social protection policy.
The benefits of an integrated social protection system are manifold. It facilitates provision of a social protection floor, whereby individuals are appropriately protected throughout the lifecycle. This is achieved not only by ensuring a sufficient range of programmes to cover a population’s risk profile but also by sharing information on individuals to ensure they are linked to appropriate programmes. Systems also minimise costs, both from the government side (by sharing infrastructure and achieving economies of scale) and at an individual level (by reducing the transaction costs associated with applying for various social protection programmes).