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Institute for Workplace Studies-----------------Professor Samuel B. Bacharach

School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies

Cornell University

16 East 34th Street, 4th floor--------------------Stuart Basefsky

New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau

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Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

 

SOCIAL EXPENDITURE DATABASE (SOCX) [includes 2014 data update]

http://www.oecd.org/social/expenditure.htm

 

The OECD has just updated its database on social expenditure to include data for 2014.

 

These new data show that in recent years Canada, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland and the United Kingdom have all experienced substantial declines in social spending as a per cent of GDP. But in most countries social spending remains at historically high levels: ratios are highest at over 30% of GDP in Denmark, Belgium, Finland and France (highest at almost 32% of GDP), with Italy, Austria, Sweden, Spain and Germany also devoting more than a quarter of their GDP to public social spending. The OECD average for 2014 was 22%.

 

Countries on average spent more on cash benefits (12.3% of GDP) than on social and health services (8.6% of GDP), but Nordic countries, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom had a more equal balance in spending on cash and in-kind benefits.

 

Cash income support to the working age population accounts for 4.4% GDP on average across the OECD, of which 1 % GDP towards unemployment benefits, 1.8% on disability/sickness benefits, 1.3% on family cash benefits and another 0.4% on other social policy cash supports.

 

Public spending in some emerging economies is below the OECD average, lowest in India and Indonesia but highest in Brazil where – as in OECD countries - pensions and health expenditure are important areas of social spending.

 

The data also show that income-testing in social protection systems is much more prevalent in Anglophone and non-European OECD countries than in continental Europe.

 

see

SOCIAL EXPENDITURE UPDATE

Social spending is falling in some countries, but in many others it remains at historically high levels

Insights from the OECD Social Expenditure database (SOCX), November 2014

http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/OECD2014-Social-Expenditure-Update-Nov2014-8pages.pdf

[full-text, 8 pages]

 

Abstract:

New OECD data show that in recent years Canada, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland and the

United Kingdom have experienced substantial declines in social spending as a percent of GDP, but in most

countries social spending remains at historically high levels. Public spending in some emerging economies is

below the OECD average, lowest in India and Indonesia but highest in Brazil where – as in OECD countries -

pensions and health expenditure are important areas of social spending. New SOCX-data also shows that incometesting

in social protection systems is much more prevalent in Anglophone and non-European OECD countries than

in continental Europe. Finally, when considering the role of private social benefits and the impact of tax systems,

social spending levels become more similar across OECD countries, and while France remains the biggest social

spender the United States moves up the rankings to second place.

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