Beyond the unaffordability myth: a pragmatic approach to universal social security

Scepticism over cost has stalled the global commitment to universal social security, leaving many in the world unprotected. Various estimates of the financing gap have led to calls for restrictive, poverty-targeted schemes that repeatedly fail to reach the majority of those in need.

This report challenges that pessimism by introducing a pragmatic, progressive-realisation costing model. Building on previous research by Development Pathways and Act Church of Sweden, the paper presents an alternative approach to estimating costs, grounded in real-world benefit levels rather than poverty lines.

You can also use the associated costing tool, which estimates the additional investment needed to build universal social security systems beyond current spending and allows anyone to model different scenarios by adjusting factors such as benefit levels, eligibility ages, and growth rates.