With waged employment becoming increasingly precarious, social protection is the phrase that we use to describe what states can do to seek to ensure that human capabilities continue to flourish. Social protection has a long history, but has changed in significant ways over the past 20 years, in ways that will shape the future course of the lives of many across the course of this century.

In the 21st century social protection consists of social insurance, social assistance and employment and labour market interventions.