The coverage of social protection in the Global South

About 73% of the global population is not, or is only partly, covered by social protection. Particularly across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) social protection coverage is highly heterogeneous. What explains the large differences in the inclusiveness of social protection across LMICs? By analysing 100 LMICs using retirement schemes as an example, this study shows that non-contributory schemes in LMICs are, by far, more inclusive than contributory ones. Surprisingly, democratic institutions characterised by low levels of political corruption only promote the inclusiveness of non-contributory social protection while reducing the coverage of contributory schemes.