ILO Social Security Programmes and Mechanisms Database

On the basis of textual information, the Social Security Database offers statistically usable information on social security programmes. Three types of possible usage justify the development of this database: An essential component of socio-economic security indicators should be a set of variables reflecting the principles or models of social protection. As such, the number, the conditionalities and other features of (national) social security programmes are seen as key elements for the building of indicators of security. This database provides an overview of the situation of social security systems worldwide as well as a detailed description of the mechanisms on the basis of how various programmes operate. It will also serve as a complementary or alternative source of information to other databases in the SES Databank. Social security programmes have been classified and regrouped to constitute models (Titmuss, Esping-Andersen, etc.) based on historical, institutional and/or cultural factors. This database will allow to verify statistically these models and explore the relevance of alternative models, notably through cluster analysis.