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Universality in Social Protection: An Inquiry about its Meaning and Measurement

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This report aims to conceptualise universality in social protection and propose an actionable approach to measure it in a systematic and comprehensive way in the European Union. We propose to define the universality of a given Welfare State along three dimensions: the range of social needs addressed the degree to which the relevant population is covered, and the extent to which the needs are adequately covered in each case. We argue that these three dimensions can be used to measure the universality of European social systems. We discuss how this measurement could be implemented and present an illustrative operationalisation through a system of indicators for health, unemployment benefits, sickness benefits, old-age pensions, social assistance, housing, and education.

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  • Munoz de Bustillo Llorente Rafael & FERNANDEZ MACIAS Enrique & GONZALEZ VAZQUEZ Ignacio, 2020. "Universality in Social Protection: An Inquiry about its Meaning and Measurement," JRC Research Reports JRC122953, Joint Research Centre.
    • Handle: RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc122953
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    Keywords

    Universality; Social; Protection; Coverage; Adequacy;
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