C4.5.a. What is social security and social protection?

The notion of social security as it is commonly used within the ILO covers all measures providing benefits, whether in cash or in kind, to secure protection, inter alia, from lack of or insufficient work-related income caused by sickness, disability, maternity, employment injury, unemployment, old age, or death of a family member; lack of access or unaffordable access to healthcare; insufficient family support, particularly for children and adult dependants; general poverty and social exclusion. Social security schemes can be of a contributory (social insurance) or non-contributory nature.

Social protection is referred to as the set of public measures that a society provides for its members to protect them against economic and social distress that would be caused by the absence or a substantial reduction of income from work as a result of various contingencies (sickness, maternity, employment injury, unemployment, invalidity, old age, and death of the breadwinner); the provision of health care; and the provision of benefits for families with children. This concept of social protection is also reflected in the various ILO standards. By definition, social protection is broader and more inclusive than social security since it incorporates non-statutory or private measures for providing social security, but still encompasses traditional social security measures such as social assistance, social insurance and universal social security benefits. It may be noted that there are significant differences among societies and institutions around the world of how they define and approach social protection.

To help governments with implementing this responsibility in 2012 the ILO published a Handbook: Guidance on implementing the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 and Social Security for Seafarers (2012) ⁷¹ .

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Social security