4 February, 2025
The pandemic has brought an acceleration in technology adoption in the face of physical distancing needs. A part of the workforce has been able to stay active thanks to her during the confinements. The pandemic has acted as a catalyst for the technologies available to avoid physical contact. In the case of digital platforms, technology has also created opportunities to recover sources of income that were already occurring in some industries, as we have seen with the use of platforms such as Beat.
The great challenge for the future will be to make this technological adoption permanent and improve the living conditions of workers without increasing inequality. LAC is the most unequal region in the world, which has made it more vulnerable to the pandemic. Under these conditions, the accelerated technological adoption that has been generated in the previous months may not include a good part of the most disadvantaged workers, so income differences could increase. To try to mitigate it, it is essential to identify alternatives to generate coverage against different risks that are generally covered by social security, but that, given the levels of informality, leave many millions of people out.
To identify innovative solutions for workers who use digital platforms as an occupational alternative, the IDB Group and Beat have partnered. This alliance began with a survey of Beat driver users in Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru in June 2021. The survey includes 4,573 driver users in the four countries and was carried out in order to understand the profile of the drivers. users, their general use of mobility applications to generate income, their health and financial behavior, as well as their social security coverage.
The IDB Group, through the Digital Social Security Laboratory, is leading efforts to rethink security systems in the digital age. The rise of new ways of working is transforming the nature of work. At the same time, as will be seen in this report, it is leaving many workers disconnected from social protection benefits, such as health insurance and pensions. This survey is aligned with the IDB Group’s Vision 2025, the roadmap to promote economic recovery in the region. Specifically, through the Digital Social Security Laboratory, it seeks to ensure that digital platform workers have access to basic social security schemes to face short-, medium-, and long-term risks.
The results of the survey are an initial step to identify new products whose design facilitates insurance that has not been achieved with social security systems. In the region, the traditional model of social security systems links worker insurance to employment. However, working through mobility applications offers ways to generate income that breaks with this scheme due to the large number of hours and days that can be used according to the needs and tastes of those who use them to provide a service. The rise of mobility applications forces us to rethink social security mechanisms and adapt them to the digital age.
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4 February, 2025
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