October 2021
27Oct

Liberia ex-warlord Taylor sues for pensions, benefits

Former Liberian warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor, jailed for five decades for war crimes, has filed a lawsuit against his country's government over its "refusal" to pay his pension and retirement benefits, according to a court statement. Taylor sparked a 13-year civil war in Liberia when he led a rebellion in 1989 to oust President Samuel Doe, which spiralled into one of Africa's bloodiest conflicts. He is currently serving a 50-year sentence in a British prison after being convicted in 2012 by a...

October 27, 2021
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15Oct

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Precarious Aging: The Importance of an Equity Response

By Marc A. Garcia, Adriana M. Reyes & Catherine Garcia Older Black, Indigenous, and Latinx adults are at a higher risk of negative COVID-19 outcomes relative to older non-Latinx White adults. Mounting evidence regarding the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color lays bare the effects of long-standing and deeply rooted structural racism in American society. Residential and occupational segregation and unequal access to health-promoting resources such as education, income, wealth, and quality healthcare have exposed and amplified pre-existing...

October 15, 2021
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11Oct

South Africa: A New Social Assistance Assessment Aims to Help Strengthen Policies and Programs for the Poor

By  India Education Diary Bureau Admin  The World Bank, in collaboration with the Government of South Africa, released a new report assessing the country’s social assistance programs and systems. In an environment of high unemployment, persistent poverty, weak economic growth and shrinking fiscal resources that has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Social Assistance Programs and Systems Review: South Africa report underscores the critical role of the grant and social assistance system in mitigating poverty. This report also provides...

October 11, 2021
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08Oct

National pension reform: Why it is imperative in South Africa

When the Department of Social Development (DSD) released its Green Paper on Comprehensive Social Security and Retirement Reforms, the proposal to set up a national pension scheme was swiftly shot down. The Green Paper proposed a National Social Security Fund to which all workers earning over R1,667 a month would contribute. Employers and employees would initially contribute between 8% and 12% of earnings up to a ceiling of R23,000 a month. Such was the force of the opposition that there was...

October 8, 2021
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September 2021
24Sep

The Affordable Care Act After a Decade: Its Impact On The Labor Market And The Macro Economy

By Hanming Fang, Dirk Krueger The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is one of the most important reforms of the US health insurance system since the introduction of Medicare. Since employment is a main source of health insurance for the working age population in the United States, this sweeping health insurance reform also has important implications for the labor market and the macro economy. In this paper, we survey the prototype models that are used in the macro and labor literature,...

September 24, 2021
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14Sep

Australia. Most vulnerable excluded from Disability Support Pension

The number of people locked out of disability support and forced on to inadequate JobSeeker Payments has more than tripled since 2007 as a direct result of ever-tightening eligibility rules, a new report has found. The Dead Ends report, by the Brotherhood of St. Laurence (BSL), Associate Professor Karen Soldatic, Western Sydney University; and Australian Federation of Disability Organisations, found an increasing number of people living with disability, psycho-social impairments and/or chronic illnesses are being assessed as having a “partial...

September 14, 2021
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13Sep

Millions of older people in the U.S. live on the economic edge—evictions will send them into homelessness

In late August, the Supreme Court ruled that evictions can resume, despite an effort by the Biden administration to temporarily ban them due to the pandemic. The impact of this ruling could have dire consequences for many older adults already on the financial brink. In fact, the number of homeless people who are 55 and older is rising at an alarming rate. I have seen this first hand as the CEO of Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS), a 470-bed homeless...

September 13, 2021
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10Sep

Social Protection in Lebanon Bridging the Immediate Response With Long- Term Priorities

By Unicef, ILO, & Beyond Since the Beirut Port explosion in August 2020 the social protection debate has been focused on the immediate and short-term response. Building on ongoing efforts for the development of a national social protection strategy for Lebanon, it is important to align the emergency response with medium term priorities and a longer-term vision for the sector. This paper serves to complement the Reform, Recovery and Reconstruction Framework (3RF)1. It draws on the findings of various assessments in...

September 10, 2021
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09Sep

Private pension plans in Latin America and sustainable finance

The private pension plan (PPP) market in Latin America is the region’s largest institutional client segment, with more than USD 900 billion in assets under management (AUM) at the end of 2020. And with projections forecasting AUM to reach USD 1.4 trillion by 2023, the PPPs are a reference point for smaller investors. Along with sovereign wealth funds (SWF), Latin America’s PPPs control a significant share of assets relative to GDP and thus can be very influential in the...

September 9, 2021
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09Sep

China to accelerate developing multi-tiered social security system: action plan

China will accelerate its efforts in developing a sustainable multi-tiered social security system that covers the entire population in both urban and rural areas and follows fair and uniform standards, according to the country's latest human rights action plan. Titled "Human Rights Action Plan of China (2021-2025)," the document was released on Thursday by the State Council Information Office. Read also China launches wealth management product pilots for retirement in four cities Under the principle of social security benefits for all eligible,...

September 9, 2021
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