On 2 March 2022, the Chief Executive Officer of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan revealed that a total of 2.6 million contributors only had savings of RM1,000 and less as of last December. It is an increase of 86 per cent compared to 1.4 million contributors in April 2020. In fact, according to him, the situation has left them with only RM42 a month to spend within 20 years after retirement.
This is one of the facts that we must accept today. It got worse after being battered by the Covid-19 pandemic over the past two years.
What the EPF is sharing is just one of dozens of issues that affect the country's workers, especially those who are its contributors.
Even though the country is more than six decades old, polemics about the need for comprehensive social protection for every worker continue to be heard. This protection touches on various aspects of a worker's life. We cannot deny that workers, although not all, are contributors to the various schemes that have been established, namely workers' retirement savings fund, workers' social security scheme as well as contributions to develop workers' skills.
Every day we also often hear complaints, grievances, and the need for better social protection. This matter is not only raised by local workers, but also voiced by non-governmental organizations involving foreign workers.
For us, whether local workers or documented foreign workers, it is necessary to provide quality social protection. Every worker is an asset, contributing to the economic development of our nation.
The rewards of national development should be translated into relevant and constructive forms of social protection so that every worker and their family members enjoy the full benefits at all times. That's what we want. In fact, that is the real reality today.
There should be no employees who face discrimination or denied their right to enjoy good social protection.
Social protection systems help every individual and family, especially the poor and vulnerable to any types of risk, crises and shocks, find employment, increase productivity, invest in the health and education of their children, and protect the aging population. In addition, the ability to own housing and health facilities is also part of the need for comprehensive social protection.
The question that often arises is who should and is responsible in ensuring workers have better social protection? It focuses on employment, especially the good work agenda, which extends rights to informal workers as well as those who work formally.
In general, Social Protection consists of various aspects of human life. These include Social Assistance, Social Insurance, social care services for those facing social risks such as violence, abuse, exploitation, discrimination and social exclusion, the Labour Market Program. Social Assistance and Social Insurance together form 'social security', a term often used by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and other United Nations (UN) agencies or bodies interchangeably with social protection.
In Malaysia, although many workers have access to a number of social protection schemes, we must be proactive in looking at this issue holistically and expanding its scope so that all issues raised so far, by various parties, including trade unions, are put to an end.
Lives of the people, especially workers, whether while still working or after retirement must be conducive, and it must begin now.
While the ray of sunshine is still far from reality, SPCAAM is here to realize that hope.
Social Protection Definition
International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG)
Social protection would be composed of a set of actions financed by the State that would:
International Labour Organization (ILO)
Social protection, or social security, is a human right and is defined as the set of policies and programmes designed to reduce and prevent poverty and vulnerability throughout the life cycle. Social protection includes benefits for children and families, maternity, unemployment, employment injury, sickness, old age, disability, survivors, as well as health protection. Social protection systems address all these policy areas by a mix of contributory schemes.
World Bank Group
Social protection and labour systems, policies, and programs help individuals and societies manage risk and volatility and protect them from poverty and destitution - through instruments that improve resilience, equity, and opportunity.
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
(A) set of policies and programmes aimed at preventing or protecting all people against poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion throughout their life-course, with a particular emphasis towards vulnerable groups.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Social protection comprises a set of policies and programmes that addresses economic, environmental and social vulnerabilities to food insecurity and poverty by protecting and promoting livelihoods.
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Social protection is defined as the set of policies and programs designed to reduce poverty and vulnerability by promoting efficient labour markets, diminishing people's exposure to risks, and enhancing their capacity to protect themselves against hazards and interruption/loss of income.
Social protection consists of five major elements:
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
(A) set of nationally owned policies and instruments that provide income support and facilitate access to goods and services by all households and individuals at least at minimally accepted levels, to protect them from deprivation and social exclusion, particularly during periods of insufficient income, incapacity or inability to work.
World Food Programme (WFP)
Social protection consists of policies and programmes designed to protect people from shocks and stresses throughout their lives. It can include safety nets, social insurance schemes, labour market regulations or facilitated access to essential services. Usually they target poor, marginalized or vulnerable groups. Social protection is government-owned, and components vary from country to country.
Source of Definition: https://GSDRC.ORG/TOPIC-GUIDES/SOCIAL-PROTECTION/TYPES-OF-SOCIAL-PROTECTION/