An Assessment of the Financial Sustainability of Social Security Schemes in Kenya

Abstract

Social Security schemes play a major role in the fight against poverty. They are arrangements that ensure society take measures to protect members against economic and social distress occasioned by loss of income or reduced earnings resulting from sickness, maternity, employment, injury, invalidity, old age and loss of breadwinner. However, such institutions have of late been plagued with the problems of lack of sustainability and insufficient funds.

This paper examines the major features of the Kenyan social security system with a focus on Pension schemes (i.e. systems that provide financial security for the old) to assess the principle challenges to the financial sustainability. The findings show that there were five basic challenges that were particularly critical in the context of Kenya: inadequate regulatory capacity; imprudent investment, macroeconomic instability; poor corporate governance; inability to extend coverage; and design issues such as choices between DB and DC schemes, funding versus PAYGO principles and public versus private management.

The major recommendations proposed to address these issues include reforming and enactment of adequate legal and institutional framework, extension of coverage to include both formal and informal sectors, undertake sound investment projects, improve corporate governance, lower administrative costs by implementing time and cost effective operational systems, institute parametric reforms, reform the PAYGO social security system, institute administrative and design changes to reduce contribution evasion. This will be in addition to the government measures to stabilize the macroeconomic environment.