June 2026

Thailand pilots strategic compliance planning to strengthen protection for domestic workers

Labour inspection in private homes presents unique challenges. Unlike a factory or a construction site, domestic workers are dispersed across thousands of households, worker locations may not be readily available, and access may be restricted in private residences. For the roughly 125,000 registered migrant domestic workers in Thailand, largely women from Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Myanmar, and many more in irregular status — these barriers can leave them vulnerable and difficult to reach through conventional labour inspection methods. That...

May 2026

Spain. Pension spending marks a new high of 14,366 million in May, 6.1% more year-on-year

Social Security has allocated in this month of May a historic disbursement of 14,365.8 million euros to pay the ordinary payroll of contributory pensions, which represents an increase of 6.1% compared to the same period in 2025, as communicated this Tuesday by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations. This payroll incorporates the revaluation of pensions approved by the Government for 2026. In general, the increase applied is 2.7%, in line with the average CPI recorded between December 2024...

ISSA Annual review 2025: Social security for a world in transition

By ISSA The International Social Security Association (ISSA) has launched its Annual review 2025, showcasing a year of strong achievements, innovation and global collaboration in social security. The Annual Review, titled Social security for a world in transition, highlights how the ISSA has supported its members in responding to profound demographic, economic and technological changes shaping societies worldwide. A dynamic year for the global ISSA community The review presents 2025 as an impactful year for the ISSA, marked by high levels of engagement, new...

April 2026

Communicating for action: Rewriting the social security engagement

By ISSA Social security institutions are shifting from traditional outreach into establishing leveraging communication tools and approaches that drives action from individuals. Through multi-pronged strategies they are engaging with individuals and creating meaningful connections that empower people to understand their rights, navigate services confidently, build trust and actively engage with social protection systems. Empowering individuals to know about and claim social security benefits and services is as much a delivery challenge as it is a communication one. People may have limited...

Informal workers in the rural sector in Colombia: Living conditions and social security

By Oscar Espinosa, Valeria Bejarano, Martha-Liliana Arias & Jorge-Iván González The existence of a high percentage of informal labour has a direct impact on the living conditions of millions of people and their families, especially in rural areas and developing countries. The implications of this problem present a challenge for public policy on employment, social security and business activity. Taking advantage of the wealth of microdata from the Great Integrated Household Survey (of national representation), our research aimed to...

Gig Workers And Labour Law In India: Analysing The Legal Vacuum Under The Code On Social Security 2020

By Anshita Jain The rise of the gig economy in India has transformed traditional employment structures while exposing significant gaps in labour law protections. This paper analyses the legal status of gig and platform workers under the Code on Social Security, 2020, highlighting the challenges of worker classification and limited social security coverage. It argues that despite formal recognition, the absence of enforceable rights and clear accountability mechanisms leaves gig workers vulnerable. The paper concludes by suggesting the need for...

March 2026

War and Pensions: The Effects of War on Social Security and Pensions Around the World

By John A. Turner, David Rajnes, Gerard Hughes & Maher Michelle War has affected the development of social security and employer-provided pensions. Roman soldiers received the first pensions. In most countries, military pensions preceded social security pensions, providing countries experience with the concept and administration of pensions. War or the threat of war affected the development of the two major branches of social insurance-based pensions—Bismarckian (earnings related pensions developed in Germany) and Beveridgian (pensions tied to years of work developed...

Why Social Security Is Essential to Measuring Wealth Inequality

By Knowledge at Wharton Staff In this Q&A, professor Sylvain Catherine discusses why including Social Security fundamentally changes how we measure wealth inequality. His paper “Social Security and Trends in Wealth Inequality” was co-authored by Max Miller and Natasha Sarin and recently won the Dimensional Fund Advisors First Prize from the American Finance Association. The paper was previously awarded the Marshall Blume Prize in Financial Research from Wharton’s Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research, given annually to the best...

It’s thanks to Social Security wealth inequality isn’t even worse, Wharton economist says. Trump’s policies will push it to insolvency in 6 years

America’s debt burden is caught in a death loop, and President Donald Trump’s policy agenda has accelerated that spiral. Among other consequences, the country’s race towards fiscal chaos might also plunge Social Security into insolvency, potentially erasing a $40 trillion buffer that has helped moderate wealth inequality over the past few decades. Modern-day America’s chasm between the ultra-rich and the rest of the country hasn’t been this wide since the Gilded Age, when the wealthiest 5% held a third of...

February 2026

Public Pensions and the Strategic Timing of Formal Employment

  By Diego Vera Cossio, Mariano Bosch, Jonathan M. Leganza, Tatiana Mojica & María Laura Oliveri We study how public pensions impact lifecycle labor supply decisions. Our analysis centers on pension eligibility rules in Ecuador. We first use administrative data to document and unpack retirement spikes at eligibility ages. Next, we use survey data and regression discontinuity to investigate whether eligibility rules influence earlier-inlife decisions about when to work formally versus informally. We find discontinuous increases in transitions to formal employment...