What is social protection?

This section of the training explains what social protection is.

The Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and P4SP define social protection as programs that address risk, vulnerability, inequality, and poverty through a system of transfers to people in cash or in kind (e.g. food or vouchers).

But there is no one agreed definition of social protection – it varies depending on the country or the organisation. Let’s look at some other examples:

The Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board, a global coordination mechanism for social protection, agreed that:

Social protection is defined as the set of policies and programs aimed at preventing or protecting all people against poverty, vulnerability, social exclusion throughout their lifecycles, placing a particular emphasis on vulnerable groups. Social protection can be provided in cash or in-kind; through non-contributory schemes, such as providing universal, categorical, or poverty- targeted benefits such as social assistance; contributory schemes (commonly social insurance), and by building human capital, productive assets, and access to jobs.1

1. SPIAC-B. (2020). A Joint Statement on the Role of Social Protection in Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Pacific countries have different definitions of social protection too.

Here are some examples:

The map shows the Pacific islands, with Nauru, Samoa and Tonga highlighted. In Nauru, social protection is defined as government transfers of income or services such as health care or education that are designed to reduce vulnerability and build resilience. In Samoa, social protection is defined as a mix of policies and programs aimed at preventing and protecting all people against poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion, covering measures relating to lack of basic income, lack of access to healthcare and other basic services, insufficient family support (especially for children and adult dependents), including social security and support for protection against disaster, economic and social risk, such as unemployment, exclusion, sickness, disability and old age. In Tonga, social protection can be defined as policies and programs that help individuals, families and societies to cope with risks and volatility, protect them from poerty and reduce inequality, assist them in accessing economic opportunity. Social protection achieves this by increasing individuals' resilience, equity and opportunity and through a modality of instruments, such as social assistance, social insurance, care services and labor market policies.

2. Nauru Department of Finance. (2023, May 30). National Social Protection Strategy 2022-2032.
3. Ministry of Finance, Samoa. (2023). National Social Protection Policy Framework 2023.
4. Kingdom of Tonga. (2023). National Social Protection Policy (2023 - 2033).

Reflection

In your own words, how would you describe social protection and what does it mean in your country?

To see how different organisations think about social protection, visit socialprotection.org.
Learn more

Around the world, and in the Pacific, most people agree that social protection includes at least two core pillars - social assistance and social insurance:

Social assistance is a benefit given by the government (or other organisations) to people. This helps ensure all citizens have access to a guaranteed minimum income. Examples include an old age pension or a disability benefit. People who earn (and their employers) make contributions to social insurance schemes, which provide them with benefits when they cannot work. This helps smooth a person’s consumption (or income) over their lifetime. Examples include a superannuation fund or parental insurance.

But wait, these definitions are all so confusing.

We agree! Many definitions are hard to understand, with a lot of technical words. Let’s try to talk about it more simply...

Social protection is money or other help that is given to a person often from the government:

The purpose of social protection is to make sure that:

Everyone can receive the minimum amount of money that is needed to live.

People that earn money from a job are able to use what they need to live, and also save money to use in the future.

Here are some examples of social protection:

Money given to older people or people with a disability.

Money given to parents when they have a baby.

Money that workers save in their provident / superannuation fund for when they retire.

To learn about what different social protection words mean, socialprotection.org has a glossary.
Click here

A strong social protection system can help people to deal with things that happen at different stages of their life, and provides a safety net for those in need.

The video explains how social protection can provide support to people who need it most at different life stages.

Reflection

How does your community help people who do not have enough money?

In the Pacific, there is a strong tradition of supporting each other. For example through churches, remittances or customary practices, such as the wantok system in countries in Melanesia and Fa'asamoa in Samoa.

Mythbuster activity

There are lots of myths and perceptions related to social protection that you may have heard before. Here is one example.

If the fovernment gives people money, it will ruin traditional support systems. True or false?
Good social protection does not replace or harm community supports and cultural practices - it complements them and helps vulnerable people to also contribute and support others. This is particularly important when disasters hit and lots of people are impacted - when everyone is struggling, it is hard for people to support each other.

Learn more

If you want to learn more about what social protection is, here are some online training courses that you can enrol in for free.

What is social protection?
An introduction
Social protection
primer course