Integrating informal workers and digital work platforms into social insurance systems

Abstract

This study focuses on incorporating informal workers and workers working

on platforms into social insurance systems in the context of the rapid

development of the digital economy. It unravels the conceptual framework

and characteristics of informal work and analyzes the dynamics of platform

work in terms of algorithmic access, pricing, and rating. The second part

revisits fundamental principles at the heart of social insurance, such as

compensation, solidarity and sustainability, as well as gaps of coverage

caused by a movement towards narrow legal definitions and administrative

tools that are failing to take account of an irregular income. The third section

examines the policies implemented in France, Germany, Morocco and Egypt,

featuring flexible definitions of workers, the creation of e-registration

portals, and progressive linking of platforms to social insurance agencies.

The paper concludes with recommendations that inclusion is successful in

Iraq and the broader Arab world as a legal update to expand the meaning of

'worker' is needed, including a national digital platform for voluntary

enrollment and flexible contributions, giving financial incentives for workers

and platforms, and coordinated governance between the labor ministries,

social insurance bodies and platforms. It recommends the development of

incomes-adaptive contribution formulae, and the evaluation of the incentive

schemes for their fiscal sustainability.

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