Singapore and Malaysia: Data on Social Protection Index

Suman K Sharma
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 2suman.sharma@gmail.com Capacity Development Workshop on Measuring Social Protection 1416 May 2013 BPS Statistics, Jakarta, Indonesia

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this paper/presentation are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. Terminology used may not necessarily be consistent with ADB official terms.

Presentation Outline
Singapore: - Socio-economic overview - SP Program/activities (CPF-asset-based, health, retirement) - Corresponding SP Expenditure - Data Collection (on SP programs?) - Issues / Recommendations (on SP related data and analysis?) Malaysia: - Socio-eco overview; SP Programs/activities - SP Expenditure / Data Collection (on SP programs?) - Issues / Recommendations (on SP related data and analysis?)
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Singapore: Socio-economic Overview (2010/11)

Statistic Value

GDP (at 2005 market prices) (millions of SGD)

GDP per capita (The Wealth Report 2012)

299,625

S$70,450 (US$56,532 )

Resident Population (Citizens + Permanent 3.9 Residents) (millions) Labour Force (millions) Population aged 60 years and over (000) Unemployment Rate (%) 3.24 560.8 (14.4% of resident popn) 2.1

Population living in poverty (estimate) (000)

Disabled population (000) Children aged 0-14 years (000)

350
150 636.9 (16.3% of resident popn)

Per capita poverty line income (annual) (estimate 12,000 (8,300US$) based on income/mo of sgd1000 or less )
Average household size
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3.5
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Singapore: SP Programs/Activities Social Security Programs - CPF Model

Central Provident Fund (CPF) model: Fully funded mandatory- based on individual accounts: both employers & employees contributeaverts issue regarding financial sustainability Savings deposited into 3 accounts, can be utilized to purchase housing, healthcare, investment, and (childrens) education, retirement benefits Social Assistance: No Formal welfare system! - people are encouraged to rely on work- Still some SA prgms designed as interim provisions w/ strict eligibility criteria / means testing Public Assistance Scheme: longterm scheme -old, ill, disabled.. ComCare Fund Integrated Care System w/ urgent temporary assistance of cash, food, pre-schooling- a final safety net Workfare- encourages work and assists those whore working!

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Singapore Social Insurance: CPF for Healthcare Financing

An integrated system of a compulsory Medisave account, a catastrophic medical insurance scheme (Medishield) and a means-tested Medifund scheme Medisave:hospitalization/approved out-patient expenses; Medisave- lacks risk pooling across individuals Medishield -catastrophic health ins scheme against large hospital bills; 85yr age limit; Children can pay for parents Medifund govt set-up as a means-tested safety net; acts as a last resort if cant pay for medical expenses despite Medisave and Medishield - Use is subject to means-testing 07- Medifund for the Elderly to cater to healthcare needs of 65+ yrs- as demand for elderly will grow as population ages
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Singapore Fig 1. SP Expenditure by SP Category

SP EXPENDITURE

2% 5%

ALL Social Insurance ALL Social Assistance Labour Market Programs

93%

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Singapore SPI : Data Collection & Analysis (1)

1) Definition of Social Protection (SP): NO Formal definition! Limited information on Social Protection programs in household survey! 2) Definition/Classification of SP programs by SP category i) Unemployment Insurance: no unemployment insurance specifically dedicated .. (ii)Underemployed population: not defined officially no official data available ii) Poverty Line (PL): No official poverty line exists! Estimate based on Workfare & those earning less than sgd1000 (2012: half a million) But no disaggregated data by gender. -How many women earned such amount? -lack of poverty disaggregated figures leading to difficulty in professional estimate (iv) Elderly employment: employment among 60+ significant, but not clear how many work at say, 67? Or older? Due to part-time working arrangements (iii)Total coverage/beneficiary data are largely lumped: disaggregated estimates of program beneficiary difficult to obtain/overlapping

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Singapore SPI : Data Collection & Analysis (2)

3) Data Collection: -multiple agencies handle SP programs & all data used are publicly available on respective publications/websites No single data collection body for all Social Protection programs! (i) Dept of Statistics (DOS): collects/publishes data on basic statistics, macroeconomy, Census data, Budget Highlights of major Programs, etc. (ii) CPF Board: -collects data on social security systems (CPF related) (iii) Data on Social Assistance: published by various ministries/departments, -Ministry of Community, Youth & Sports (MCYS)- publishes EXP & Coverage data on various Social Assistance programs -Min of Health publishes health related data on social assistance programs -Ministry of Manpower Workfare program & Work Injury Compensation -Ministry of Home Affairs- Treatment of Offenders program iv) Pension: - small no of key civil servants and officeholders are eligible - data are not disclosed publicly

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Singapore SPI : Data Collection & Analysis (3)

4) Data Analysis Challenges? (i) Social Insurance (SI) Data: -involves multiple Social Insurance components & not all programs qualify as social protection under ADB definition -CPF data in most cases not disaggregated by gender (ii) Social Assistance Data: Most programs highly integrated, eg, a single program Comcare targets children, elderly, poor, women -difficult to identify budget allocation to individual target groups thus leading to gaps/overlaps in expenditure as well as coverage -similarly, published SP expenditure figures largely aggregated (iii) Data on Labor Market Program- Workfare covers only those whore working thus contribute to CPF. So overlapping possible in identifying coverage All above leading to difficulties in identifying disaggregated figures in terms of Expenditure, Coverage & also regarding the inclusion-exclusion of SP programs!

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Singapore SP Data: Recommendations / Remarks

i) A Single Data Collection body for SP programs perhaps more timely ii) Data on Social Insurance Programs: (largely published by CPF) -need to exhibit greater transparency (Asher 2009) - disaggregated data (by gender & income group) should be made public so as to -have precise estimate for gender/poverty targeted rate -comprehend SP program implication (due to varying CPF contribution rates) iii) Definitions: - clear definition on Underemployed needed to understand labor market situation & thus to devise appropriate targeted SP programs - Data on employment among elderly is crucial and needs to be publicly available - Poverty Line: how many people are poor? In absence, hard to estimate PTR iv) Data on Social Assistance Programs: easier in availability but more disaggregated figures needed to fully comprehend the SP situation; for instance, given a higher female life expectancy of 85yr (vs. 82 yr among males), disaggregated data will help understand the long-term female healthcare needs better v) Lesson for other countries: can learn from good governance/monitoring ; strict eligiblity criteria for all Social Assistance Programs resolving issue of mistargeting
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Malaysia : Socio-economic Overview

2010 Total Population (million)
Ethnic Distribution: Malaya Chinese Indigenous people Indian
GDP (current prices) (RM millions) GDP per capita (at current prices)

28.25
53% 26% 11.8% 7.7% 679,938 24,370 RM (US$ 7000)

Labor Force (million) Unemployment rate (%)

Population aged 60+ years (million) Population below poverty line (million) Disabled population (million) Children aged 0-14 years (million) Per capita poverty line (annual) (RM)
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12.22 (43% of total pop) 3.6 percent

2.1 (7.4% of total pop) 1.1 (3.9% of total pop) 0.3(1.1% of total pop) 8.6 (30% of total pop) 9,600 (US$ 3000) 4.4
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Average household size

Malaysia: Social Insurance Programs (public sector) (1)

Social Security and Social Insurance Programs: - Foundation of SP in MAL; employed citizens protected thru public sector schemes & for pvt formal sector- mixture of schemes supplemented by religious schemes Public Sector Pensions: Civil servants are members of DB pension scheme financed from annual govt budget (currently non-contributory) Overall, public sector employees covered by a number of social security schemes- The laws designed to provide such benefits: Pension Act 80, Pension Act Statutory Authorities 1980, Pension Adjustment Act 1980 & provision of option

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Malaysia: Social Insurance Programs (private sector) (2)

Employees Provident Fund (EPF)
-Pvt sector relies on mandatory savings scheme covering pvt sector employees, self-employed & non-pensioner employees in public sector (certain %); due to lump-sum withdrawal at retirement, longevity, inflation & survivors risks not addressed adequately Benefits provided by EPF are: Lump Sum payment of savings and all dividends to be paid after retirement Withdrawal provision upon reaching age 55 years Withdrawal for housing, education and mortgage repayments Withdrawal for medical purpose Death Benefit in the event of death before age 60 years Disability Benefit (if permanently disabled due to disease or injury)

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Malaysia: Social Insurance Programs (3)

i) The Employees Social Security Act 1969 Provides thru SS organization (SOCSO) coverage to company/industry employees (who earn<3k/mo)against: emp injury, invalidity and death - through 2 schemes a) Work Injury Scheme: accidents, occupational diseases b) Invalidity / Disability Pension Scheme: any morbid condition incurable; Benefits: full/survivors pension, Invalidity grant, Educational assistance ii) Sickness, Maternity & Retrenchment Benefits iii) Workmans Compensation Act 1952 iv) Health Care Insurance
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Malaysia SPI: SP Expenditure by SP Category

Malaysia SPI: Expenditure on SP Programs
ALL Social Assistance 6.4% .Labour Market Programs 0.3%

ALL Social Insurance 93.3%

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Malaysia SPI: Coverage/Beneficiary by SP Category

Malaysia SPI: Beneficiaries of SP Programs

Labour Market Programs 26%

ALL Social Insurance 27%

ALL Social Assistance 47%

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Malaysia SPI: Data Collection & Analysis Issues (1)

1) Definition: NO Formal definition of SP! 2) Data on Coverage/SP in Informal Sector?: substantial population in informal sector (almost 3.6mil) (Ong & Tengku 2009)- various supports exist to vulnerable individuals (underemployed, low-wage earners, elderly, disabled, homemakers) but data not always available (Nair 2009; Ong and others 2010; Tengku and Majid 2009) 3) Data on Public Service Pension: - Data on civil service and military pensions are the least transparent (governance structure has conflict of interest since beneficiaries are designing, implementing, and assessing their own pension benefits!)

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Malaysia SPI: Data Collection (sources) (2)

Data Basic Statistics Social Insurance Programs Source Bank Negara Malaysia; Department of Statistics Malaysia (2008-10); 10th Malaysian Plan Document Bank Negara Malaysia; LTAT (Armed Forces Trust Fund); Employees Provident Fund; Ministry of Human Resources; Social Security Organization of Malaysia Annual Report, 2008, 2009, 2010 Department of Social Welfare Statistical Report, 2008, 2009, 2010; various Ministries/Departments of govt Ministry of Human Resources

Social Assistance Programs Labor Market Programs

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Malaysia SPI Issue : Data Collection & Analysis (3)

4) Data Issues caused by Lack of coordination in Social assistance: fragmentations across programs at federal & state levels; and public/private sectors, leading to lack of coordination and gaps (overlaps)? At times, single program targeting multiple groups- children, elderly, poor, women difficult to identify budgetary allocation to (& identifying coverage of) individual target group 5) Mistargeting?: In some cases not so clear definition of target group, eg, policy makers seem to use Single Mothers (ibu tunggal) broadly- confusion as to who exactly belong under this category? thus leading to problem of poor definition of risks/poor design & possibly mistargeting of SP interventions (more likely in SA)! moral hazard?

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Malaysia SPI Issue : Data Collection & Analysis (4)

(6) Omission of other prgm? Social Insurance covers only programs at public sector (federal) excluding other support systems: (Zakat provided through Islamic institutions), trust fund, state (government) support, others) thus might be underestimation of true extent of SP prgms (7) (Lack of?) complete data on support in Poor regions Some Poverty alleviation supports exist in poorer regions /targeted at marginalized groups but due to uncoordinated nature, data issues (collection/analysis) exist on expenditure, beneficiaries, identification of target group. -At times, leading to mistargeting and/or duplication of benefits, and others gaps likely to occur

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Malaysia SPI : Data collection/analysis in Informal sector? (5)

8) Classification of SP programs by category
i) Underemployed population: not defined officially; estimate tricky due to large number of informal workers / marginalized groups ii) Unemployment benefit: none specifically targeting to unemployed..

9) Difficult to comprehend the true extent of SP programs?

Due to diversities across population groups (demographic/social- economic strata, formal/informal), program executing agency, program beneficiaries, public/private sector, true extent of SP programs not clear

10) Can true SP situation of Malaysia be adequately represented, say, through a single national social protection index?
regional level indexes might be more revealing to understand true extent of Social Protection situation in Malaysia!!!

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Malaysia Data on SPI: Recommendations (1)

1) Maintain/Publish data on extent of Informal Workers and corresponding SP targeted interventions -maintain disaggregated data to facilitate true SPI 2) Disclose Data on civil service pension scheme publicly 3) Data on existing SI schemes under the EPF/Pension system -Ensure greater transparency: financing details of civil service system be disclosed publicly to comply with the interest and needs of the general public (Asher 2009; Asher 2011) 4) Ensure effective monitoring and evaluation -coordinating with & active participation of state governments and local level organizations 5) maintain detailed disaggregated data to facilitate SPI
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Malaysia Data on SPI: Recommendations (2)

6) Data Across multiple institutions: greater coordination needed -Strengthen coordination across SP program executing agencies Currently, regulations across Ministries/agencies (government levels) involved in SP program can differ widely in terms of targeting mechanisms, benefits & administrative arrangements! -Little coordination exists between national level support systems & those through state level supports leading to inefficiencies? - Maintain data consistency reducing fragmentation of SP schemesbetween national & state government plus between public/private sector, eg, regarding healthcare service deliveries- regulations needed to encourage better coordination - the Social Security Organization can act as an intermediary to strengthen link between diverse program implementers

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Thank you!