The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the
world the need for a well-functioning and effective social protection system.
In the Jordanian context, the pandemic exposed the vulnerability of the social protection
system, despite the government’s ability to lend support to informal workers
and other vulnerable groups most affected by the pandemic. This assistance,
however, was limited to cash transfers through the National Aid Fund, rather
than coming up with a comprehensive policy that could make these people immune
to such shocks.
اضافة اعلان
In other words, the pandemic showed
that the social protection system in Jordan fell short of being inclusive,
cohesive, and preventive.
To better understand the social
protection system in Jordan, it is necessary to understand the historical, political
and regulatory framework that governed it throughout the country’s first century.
Since the country’s establishment,
state-citizen relations were based on a rentier social contract. This implied
that the state was always responsible for providing social services, including
education, healthcare and public sector employment, in exchange for limited
political inclusion. However, the social benefits implied by this rentier
social contract were distributed to the citizens in an ad-hoc manner instead of
establishing and designing a universal social protection system.
A look at the institutional design
of the social protection system shows that there is only one state institution
in Jordan that is mandated by law to build a “comprehensive social security
system”: the Ministry of Social Development. Notwithstanding its critical
mission, the current activities of the ministry are limited to two main issues:
organizing social initiatives and the work of social associations operating in
the country; providing social assistance to the poorer segments of the society.
Therefore, the current operations of the ministry are falling behind meeting
its original goal of building a cohesive social protection system in Jordan.
There are three other ministries in
Jordan that should be playing an important role in improving the social
protection system, the ministries of labor, health, and education, but they are
also falling behind in achieving that goal. Available data shows that these
ministries are failing in delivering the social protection needed to enable the
Jordanian society to prosper and enjoy social mobility.
For instance, in terms of labor
protection, the global sustainable development report shows that Jordan’s 2020
score in protecting “fundamental labor rights” was 0.5/1. Additionally, the
Jordanian labor market is highly informal. For example, Jordan’s Strategy Forum
estimates that 41.4 percent of workers are informal workers, which implies that
41.4 percent of the labor force lack basic labor rights protections like health
insurance and social security; hence the ministry’s failure to deliver on its
primary mandate.
When it comes to public health, only
72 percent of the population has health insurance in Jordan, whether public or
private. Life expectancy for both females and males in Jordan is one of lowest
in the region, according to the World Bank data, 51 percent of Jordanians above
the age of 50 were diagnosed with diabetes in 2018, and 43 percent of women
between the ages of 15 and 49 are diagnosed with anemia.
Also, one third of the Jordanian
children suffer from anemia, which is directly related to social class. For
example, 38 percent of the poorest children are diagnosed with anemia, compared
to only 18 percent of children who belong to the richest segment of the
society.
Finally, in terms of education, the
Human Capital Index 2020 report shows that 52 percent of 10-year-old students
in Jordan suffer from “learning poverty”. In other words, 52 percent of 10 year
olds cannot read and understand a simple text by the end of primary school.
This is higher than both the average for its region (48 percent) and the
average for Jordan’s income group (38 percent).
Based on the above, it is clear that
the Jordanian social protection system has failed to deliver on its basic
mandates: quality education, health services, and decent work conditions.
Moreover, the current socioeconomic situation in Jordan shows that the Jordanian
society is not in a healthy situation that would create an effective middle
class able to lead the development and growth of the country. Hence, rethinking
the social protection system in a way that would make it more inclusive and
effective in providing Jordanians with decent health and education services
that allow them to be productive participants in supporting economic growth and
innovation in the country should be a national priority.
The writer is a development
economist and social policy consultant specialized in the political economy of
development in the Middle East region.
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