90.2% Worker - No Social Security

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail says that about 13.7 million Malaysian workers are still not covered by any form of social security. She said the figure was alarming and the situation needs to be addressed. Based on January 2018 data from the Statistics Department, the country had 15.19 million workers. This means that 90.2% of workers have no social security protection. 

“The government is committed to extending the coverage of social security in the country to ensure Malaysians from all walks of life are covered by a sustainable and affordable social security system,” she said when opening the Regional Social Security Forum for Asia and the Pacific of the International Social Security Association (ISSA) here on Tuesday (Oct 2).

Acknowledging the creation of new types of work from the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” (Industry 4.0), she urged the Social Security Organisation (Socso) to extend the Self Employment Social Security Act 2017 to all “platform workers” of the new economy.

She said these new types of work, which are breaking away from the traditional work models, are leaving these new workers uncovered by any form of social security.

Dr Wan Azizah said workers in the informal sector also should not be forgotten, as well as other vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities, older persons, housewives, children and others. “To address this, we need to establish an integrated social security system where all social partners are able to share their data to ensure that the right benefits reach the right persons. This way, all social partners in the country will be able to operate more efficiently in delivering social protection to the people,” she said.

On another note, Dr Wan Azizah, who is also Women, Family and Community Development Minister, called on social security administrations to use innovative approaches to sustain benefits and further extend coverage to enhance the quality of social security services.

She also said that social security practitioners need to start moving from “payer” to “player” to ensure that social security benefits are designed to include giving back to society.

“Successful development and management of innovation is a key factor in determining the capacity of institutions to work towards extending coverage and securing the sustainability of social security programmes,” she said.