Abstract
The large majority of employees worldwide work in micro and small enterprises (MSEs). MSEs and own-account workers account for 70 per cent of total employment, reaching up to 90 per cent of total employment in some countries (ILO 2019d). However, for various reasons, workers in MSEs tend to be less likely to be covered by social security than workers in larger enterprises. As a result, many of them find themselves among the 71 per cent of the global population with no or insufficient social protection coverage (ILO 2018b; 2017b).
