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Despite having advanced social protection systems, OECD countries still face challenges in identifying, enrolling, and providing benefits and services to all those in need. Even when programmes are well-designed and adequately funded, cumbersome enrolment processes and challenges in service and benefit delivery can be an obstacle to the full take-up of social programmes. Advances in digital technologies and data can go a long way towards making social protection more accessible and effective. This report presents a stocktaking of OECD governments’ strategies to identify individuals and groups in need, collect and link (potential) beneficiary data across administrative and survey sources, and apply data analytics and new technologies to improve programme enrolment and the benefit/service delivery experience – all with the objective of reaching people in need of support in OECD countries.

Cette publication annuelle contient des informations détaillées sur les impôts payés sur les salaires dans les pays de l’OCDE. L'édition de cette année se concentre sur les incitations fiscales pour les seconds apporteurs de revenus dans l'OCDE et sur la façon dont la politique fiscale peut contribuer aux écarts entre les hommes et les femmes sur le marché du travail. Pour l'année 2023, le rapport couvre également les impôts sur le revenu et les cotisations de sécurité sociale payés par les salariés, les cotisations de sécurité sociale et taxes sur les salaires versés par leurs employeurs, et les transferts en espèces perçus par les travailleurs. L’objectif est de montrer comment ces taxes et prestations sont calculées dans chaque pays membre et d’examiner leurs impacts sur le revenu des ménages. Les résultats permettent aussi de faire des comparaisons internationales quantitatives des coûts de main-d’œuvre et de la situation globale vis-à-vis de l’impôt et des prestations des célibataires et des familles à différents niveaux de revenus. Cette publication présente des taux effectifs moyens et marginaux d’imposition sur les coûts de main-d’œuvre pour huit types de ménages représentatifs dont le niveau du salaire et la composition diffèrent (célibataires, parents isolés, couples avec un ou deux salaires et avec ou sans enfant). Les taux moyens d’imposition mettent en évidence le pourcentage de la rémunération brute ou des coûts de main-d’œuvre représenté par les impôts et les prélèvements sociaux, avant et après transferts en espèces, et les taux marginaux d’imposition correspondent à la partie d’une augmentation minime de la rémunération brute ou des coûts de main-d’œuvre reversée sous la forme d’impôts. Les informations détaillées par pays sont disponibles en anglais seulement.

Prices of essentials like energy and food have increased dramatically in OECD countries, adding uncertainty to household finances despite a persistently strong labour market post COVID-19. The latest edition of the OECD Risks that Matter (RTM) survey confirms that costs of living are at the top of people’s minds even in the world’s wealthiest countries: around nine in ten respondents, on average, report feeling concerned about inflation. Drawing on a representative sample of 27 000 respondents across 27 OECD countries, RTM illustrates respondents’ perceived economic risks, levels of satisfaction with current social policies, and preferences for future government action on social protection. People are calling on governments to help with the cost-of-living crisis, to spend more on health post COVID-19, and to reinforce support for older people, including in long-term care. Based on a comprehensive cross-national survey of perceptions of social protection, this report offers lessons for the functioning of social programmes as countries emerge from COVID-19, manage the cost-of-living crisis, and plan for future challenges.

Gender equality is not just about fairness and equity; it is also about economic empowerment and economic growth. Estonia has made great strides towards gender equality. Girls today outperform boys in educational attainment, but they are less likely than boys to study mathematics or information and communication technology. The gender employment gap is small, but Estonian women are still less likely to make it to the top, and career breaks around childbirth contribute to the declining but still considerable gender wage gap. This review considers the gender gaps in labour market outcomes and explores the gap in pay between men and women with equivalent skills within and across firms. It considers family support policies for households with young children, women’s bargaining position in firms, initiatives to combat gender-based discrimination as well as changing gender norms in education. It then explores the potential economic gains of greater gender equality under different scenarios. Indeed, a greater sharing of paid and unpaid work between men and women will lead to economic gains, but it requires changing norms, mindsets, and attitudes. Such changes take time, but policy has a role to play in raising public awareness of gender biases in society and promoting change.

Young adults who have lived in out-of-home care at some point during their childhood often struggle to build stable lives. This is not surprising: typically young care leavers not only have to overcome a difficult childhood, but also tend to receive less support during the crucial years of early adulthood than youth living with their parents. In response to their poor socio-economic outcomes, many agencies responsible for improving outcomes for young people are experimenting with transition programmes for young adults leaving care. This policy report identifies the key challenges that care leavers face and provides a range of good practice examples in OECD countries to promote cross-country learning, help strengthen the international evidence base and support countries to improve their policies for young people leaving their care.

This fifth edition of Society at a Glance: Asia/Pacific provides an overview of social indicators for the region. Quantitative evidence on social indicators such as poverty, social expenditures, and demographic trends across countries in Asia and the Pacific helps economies identify where they can learn from the experience of other countries. Chapter 1 introduces this volume and provides readers with a guide to help them interpret OECD Social Indicators. The remainder of the publication presents the indicators in a standardised format: one page of figures and accompanying text, pointing the reader to sources and potential caveats with measurement issues. The indicators are grouped into five chapters: general context, self-sufficiency, equity, health and social cohesion. Each chapter holds five indicators, but the health chapter includes an additional indicator to illustrate recent trends in cases and deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic.