The Global Inclusive Growth Partnership (GIGP), an Aspen Institute collaboration with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, announced Benefits21 – a new initiative focused on creating and implementing a modernized benefits system that ensures financial security for all workers. Experts from public and private sector organizations aim to create an inclusive, portable, people-centric, and interoperable system of benefits that is grounded in what workers need to be financially secure.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it plain that everybody needs access to benefits and social insurance to weather crises, and emergency measures such as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and CARES Act have only partially addressed people’s immediate needs. These policy responses have not addressed the trend that a growing percentage of the U.S. workforce is disproportionately excluded from workplace benefits– or that one in four workers relies on the public safety net, a system which is antiquated, complex, and designed without their dignity or financial security in mind.
HR Technology News: TecHRseries Interview with Ethan Winchell, Co-founder and COO at Truework
Benefits21, outlined in a new white paper – A Modernized System of Benefits is the Foundation for an Inclusive Economy – will holistically examine the entire benefits ecosystem, including the role of the government, private sector employers, and individual workers. This includes public benefits such as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) and Unemployment Insurance (UI), as well as private benefits such as paid sick leave, retirement, and health insurance. Increasingly, there is also a need to modernize benefits to ensure access for workers across work arrangements. The aim is to transform benefits along four key principles:
- People-centric, with workers and their voice and experience central to system design and delivery.
- Interoperable, using technology to integrate benefit systems and platforms to ensure seamless and responsive access.
- Portable, to ensure continuity of access and funding as workers transition to new jobs, enter new work arrangements and piece together different types of work.
- Inclusive, to protect all workers regardless of the work arrangement and employment status.
HR Technology News: Creating The Future Of Work Today
“Workplace and public sector benefits are essential tools that help people manage risk and be productive, but too often they are least accessible to those who need them most. Whether retirement savings to take care of us in old age, paid leave so that we can afford to take care of loved ones, or health insurance — benefits provide us the means to live long, healthy, and dignified lives,” said Ida Rademacher, executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Financial Security Program. “We cannot limit this conversation to providing emergency assistance during a time of crisis, vital though that is. Public and private sectors must come together to reimagine a system that empowers everyone to live a stable and secure life, and through Benefits21 we are providing the platform for this work to begin.”
HR Technology News: Why COVID-19 Will Lead To More Evidence-Based Hiring