a. a. Session D: Mapping of data and indicators related to social protection
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Mapping social protection statistics and indicators.docx
6. Subsidies and tax benefits
There are arguments in favour of the inclusion of subsidies of many kinds as well as tax benefits in social protection data and indicators. There is still no agreement on how to
determine their level of inclusion and the method to integrate them. 7.
Poverty lines Several poverty lines exist internationally defined poverty and extreme poverty lines,
nationally defined poverty and extreme poverty lines and there is no agreed method among agencies to determine which one to use when building social protection indicators
or evaluating the social protection needs of specific population groups.
8. Sources of financing
This issue relates and should contribute to issue 2 on determining a core set of social protection data. It is necessary to identify existing financing sources taxes, contributions,
etc. and at standardize, when possible, their treatment in order to allow measurement that suits the needs of various actors governments, donors, international organisations, etc..
Among the initial concerns are: the treatment and disaggregation of taxes, the treatment of loans and grants as well as the broader issue of assessing the financing of non-contributory
programmes. Information, data and indicators should draw on legal information as well as provide relevant and useful quantitative elements on the effective financing patterns.
Gaps Drawing on a first gap analysis, several gaps in existing data were identified, in
particular concerning: benefit levels, programmes targeting persons in active age and especially regarding public employment programmes and disability benefits, housing
benefits and the absence of a shared micro-data repository. Defining the desired data and establishing a proper methodology for data collection are often underlying issues related to
the lack of collected data. The issue of possible new gaps arising from new protection mechanisms in the future may also be anticipated.
Overlaps Some overlaps were identified as well, in particular regarding unemployment and
pension data. Drawing on the substantive work of Eurostat, ILO and OECD in developing a common methodology which made possible the current repartition of data collection
among the concerned organizations, other partnerships could be envisaged. The ILO and the World Bank are starting a process of collaboration on this specific topic regarding
pension data.
For each of those identified issues, gaps and overlaps, participants brainstormed and identified possible corrective actions and spaces for collaborative approaches. Priorities for
some of these issues and gaps have been highlighted and the responses to the various issues will be phased accordingly. A detailed road map was subsequently developed See
Appendix 2.
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