Social security for women involves policies and programmes aimed at ensuring economic security and social protection throughout their life stages. It spans healthcare, income security, maternity benefits, and old-age pensions, recognizing the unique challenges that women face, such as caregiving roles, lower lifetime earnings, and higher life expectancy.
An overview of the concept includes:
INCOME SECURITY AND EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
EQUAL PAY AND JOB SECURITY: Women often face wage gaps and job instability. Ensuring equal pay and non-discriminatory work environments promotes economic security.
 MATERNITY BENEFITS: Many countries offer paid maternity leave, cash benefits, and job protection during pregnancy and after childbirth.
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS: In the event of job loss, social insurance systems provide financial support. However, informal workers, many of whom are women, often lack access to such schemes.
HEALTH AND MATERNITY CARE:
UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE: Access to affordable healthcare is crucial for women, especially during pregnancy and childbirth.
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES: Ensuring access to contraception, family planning, and prenatal care helps reduce maternal mortality.
MATERNITY INSURANCE SCHEMES: Some countries offer maternity health insurance or provide financial aid for childbirth-related expenses.
PENSIONS AND OLD-AGE SECURITY:
PENSION REFORMS: Women tend to receive lower pensions due to career breaks and part-time work. Reforms are needed to ensure adequate old-age support.
SURVIVOR BENEFITS: Spouses, especially women who outlive their partners, rely on survivor benefits to ensure economic stability in later years.
NON-CONTRIBUTORY PENSIONS: Some countries provide pensions to individuals who may not have contributed enough to formal pension systems, benefiting homemakers.
SOCIAL PROTECTION FOR INFORMAL WORKERS:
SUPPORT FOR INFORMAL SECTOR WOMEN: Many women work informally (e.g., domestic work) without access to social security. Extending coverage to this sector is essential.
MICROINSURANCE AND COOPERATIVES: These schemes offer financial protection to women without formal employment, covering health emergencies or old-age income needs.
CAREGIVING AND SOCIAL SUPPORT SERVICES:
CHILDCARE SUBSIDIES: Governments may provide subsidies or public childcare services to support working women.
ELDERLY CARE BENEFITS: Since women are often primary caregivers for elderly family members, providing care allowances and services helps reduce their financial burden. Thus, ensuring robust social security for women requires targeted policies that address structural inequalities and provide comprehensive support across their life cycle.
Women face unique economic and social challenges that create the need for strong social security measures. The key causes that highlight why women require social security include:
ECONOMIC DISPARITIES AND GENDER PAY GAP:
LOWER WAGES: On average, women earn less than men for similar work, leading to reduced lifetime earnings and savings.
FEWER PROMOTIONS AND JOB STABILITY: Women are underrepresented in higher-paying leadership roles, often resulting in income insecurity.
PART-TIME AND INFORMAL WORK: Many women work in part-time or informal jobs without benefits, social insurance, or job security.
CAREGIVING RESPONSIBILITIES:
UNPAID WORK: Women disproportionately take on unpaid domestic work, reducing their participation in formal employment.
CAREER BREAKS: Maternity and caregiving responsibilities for children or elderly relatives often force women to pause their careers, affecting their financial stability and retirement savings.
IMPACT ON PENSIONS: Fewer working years and lower contributions to pension funds result in smaller pensions during old age.
HEALTH AND MATERNITY NEEDS:
MATERNAL HEALTH COSTS: Pregnancy and childbirth bring significant healthcare expenses, which can be financially burdensome without adequate social support.
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES: Women require access to contraception, maternal healthcare, and other reproductive health services to maintain well-being.
HIGHER LIFE EXPECTANCY: Women typically live longer than men, which increases their need for long-term healthcare, old-age pensions, and social support.
LIMITED ACCESS TO FINANCIAL RESOURCES:
GENDER BARRIERS IN FINANCIAL SYSTEMS: Women often face barriers in accessing credit, loans, and banking services, reducing their economic opportunities.
INFORMAL SECTOR EMPLOYMENT: Many women work in sectors like domestic work, agriculture, or self-employment, which typically lack formal social security coverage.
SOCIAL INEQUALITIES AND DISCRIMINATION:
WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION: Gender discrimination in the workplace limits women’s career advancement and earnings.
LEGAL INEQUALITIES: In some regions, laws governing inheritance, property rights, and social benefits are biased against women, further increasing their vulnerability.
MARGINALIZED GROUPS: Women from minority communities or rural areas face multiple layers of inequality, making social security access even more crucial.
OLD AGE AND LONGEVITY ISSUES:
LONGEVITY RISK: Women live longer than men, which means they need savings or pensions that last longer to avoid outliving their resources.
HEALTHCARE NEEDS IN OLD AGE: Older women often require long-term care services, which are expensive without health insurance or social support.
ISOLATION AND WIDOWHOOD: Many elderly women live alone, increasing their dependence on social security for sustenance and health support.
Given the combination of economic, social, and health-related challenges, social security systems are essential for women to maintain dignity, security, and well-being throughout their lives.
The provision of effective social security for women faces several challenges due to systemic inequalities, social norms, and institutional barriers.
The key challenges that impact the reach and adequacy of social security systems for women include:
INADEQUATE MATERNITY AND HEALTHCARE COVERAGE:
INSUFFICIENT MATERNITY BENEFITS: Many women, particularly those in informal or part-time jobs, do not receive paid maternity leave or income support during pregnancy.
HIGH HEALTHCARE COSTS: Reproductive health services, including maternal care, are often expensive or inaccessible, especially in low-income areas.
GAPS IN HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE: Women in informal work or rural regions may not have access to affordable health insurance, leading to financial insecurity during illness or childbirth.
LIMITED ACCESS TO FINANCIAL RESOURCES AND SOCIAL PROGRAMMES:
LACK OF AWARENESS: Many women, especially in rural and marginalized communities, are unaware of available social security schemes or face challenges in accessing them.
BANKING AND CREDIT BARRIERS: Women often have limited access to financial services such as loans or credit, reducing their ability to build long-term financial security.
EXCLUSION FROM SOCIAL SCHEMES: Some social security schemes may have eligibility criteria that exclude informal workers, domestic workers, or self-employed women.
SOCIAL AND LEGAL BARRIERS:
GENDER-BASED DISCRIMINATION: Cultural and societal norms often restrict women’s access to economic opportunities, increasing their reliance on social security.
LEGAL BARRIERS: In some countries, laws governing property, inheritance, and benefits are biased against women, limiting their ability to accumulate wealth or claim pensions and survivor benefits.
VIOLENCE AND DISPLACEMENT: Women fleeing domestic violence or displacement due to conflict often lack access to social security, leaving them vulnerable to poverty.
INADEQUATE SOCIAL SECURITY POLICIES:
POLICY GAPS FOR INFORMAL WORKERS: Many social protection systems are not designed to cover informal workers, where women are overrepresented.
LIMITED GENDER-SENSITIVE PROGRAMS: Social security policies often fail to account for the unique challenges faced by women, such as unpaid caregiving or higher health needs.
Addressing these challenges requires gender-sensitive reforms in social security systems, such as recognizing unpaid care work, ensuring universal healthcare, extending coverage to informal workers, and implementing equal pay policies.
