G20 members discuss resolving social security portability, gender gap

Members of G20 grouping called on plugging the gender gap in the global workforce and resolving portability of social security, an official statement said on Monday.

The Labour20 (L20) engagement group's inception meet in Amritsar, Punjab, as part of India's G20 presidency, adopted two joint statements as the final outcome of the two-day deliberations ended on Monday, the Labour Ministry said.

Representatives from Russia, India, Australia, Nepal and Bangladesh shared their national experiences on wages and various dimensions, particularly the impact on livelihoods at the event, it said.

The joint statements called for resolving the question of portability of social security among G20 nations as a first step towards universalisation of social security, and another for plugging the gender gap in the global workforce, it said.

Trade union leaders, labour studies experts and delegates from 20 nations at the Labour20 inception meeting under India's G20 presidency deliberated the universalisation of social security and productive discussion on women and future of work.

The joint statement on universalisation of social security stated that the question of portability of benefits within the G20 nations is a low hanging fruit, which could be addressed by the grouping at no time and pointed out to the BRICS deliberations for an intra-group arrangement in this regard.

Another joint statement on women and the future of work called for upskilling the women workforce globally to meet the emerging challenges of tech-intensive industry and the post-pandemic job market, and asked the governments and employers to shoulder this responsibility.

It also called for recalibrating how women in the informal sector, and in family-raising roles, contribute to the global economy, and asked for valuing that contribution.

In a virtual address, Union Minister for Labour and Employment Bhupender Yadav said "universal social security and its portability across the world is an important issue that G20 and L20 must focus on. He said the informal sector must be brought under the ambit of social security. There has to be a sustainable mix of social insurance and social assistance schemes for social security.