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Field
Intervention (Hidden)
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Before
The interventions will be implemented by International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Social Security Corporation (SSC) in Jordan. The interventions will be implemented during the period between July 2024 and September 2025.
There will be two overlapping treatment arms:
1) Subsidy intervention: Firms will be offered a temporary one-year subsidy of 30 JOD (42.24 USD) per month to their social security contributions for their eligible employees who they registered during the programme time window. Employees are eligible if they earn less than 500 JOD per month. Newly registered employees also receive cash transfers valued at 100 JOD (140.75 USD) every three months. The subsidy and cash transfer take place over 12 months. Firms can register up to six new workers under this subsidy programme, with a deadline of 30 September 2024. This financial support is an extension of an on-going programme called Estidama++ that targets firms with less than 10 workers.
2) Subsidy and child benefit intervention: In addition to the subsidy, firms will be offered an adapted social security package in which child benefits are included for their employees. Under this intervention, newly registered employees with children under the age of 17 will be eligible to apply for child benefits valued at JOD20 per child. To address the specific needs of single-parent households or families where both parents are actively employed, an additional 50% per child will be provided. This is to encourage gender inclusivity in the workforce and alleviate the financial burden on families facing childcare responsibilities.
In addition, firms in all treatments will receive information about the benefits of registering workers into social security for the firm and for the worker, the penalties for not doing so, and instructions on how to register a new worker.
The treatment arms will be cross-randomised by two means of communication:
1) In-person firm visits: In each firm visit, two SSC officers will deliver the information about social security and intervention offerings through in-person firm visits. In addition, SSC officers will encourage firms to register workers during the visit. They will also call the firm after the visit if the firm decided not to register on the spot. At the end of the visit, a leaflet about the intervention will be handed out. SSC officers will be trained by other SSC staff members involved in this project and by Nudge Lebanon.
2) SMS+: Firms will be initially approached with a phone call from SSC officers. These SSC officers will be trained by other SSC staff members involved in this project and by Nudge Lebanon. They will be invited to information sessions to be held at SSC branches to learn more about the subsidy and child benefits (firms will have a choice of two dates). Separate information sessions will be designed for different treatment groups. Over the next two weeks after the call, the firms will then receive a SMS as reminder once every week about the information session.
In addition, all treated firms will be provided with a dedicated hotline to which they can call to understand more about the offerings. The hotline will be directed to trained SSC staff members who normally receive calls about social security and will be additionally trained regarding the interventions.
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After
The interventions will be implemented by International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Social Security Corporation (SSC) in Jordan. The interventions will be implemented during the period between July 2024 and September 2025.
There will be two overlapping treatment arms:
1) Subsidy intervention: Firms will be offered a temporary one-year subsidy of 30 JOD (42.24 USD) per month to their social security contributions for their eligible employees who they registered during the programme time window. Employees are eligible if they earn less than 500 JOD per month. Newly registered employees also receive cash transfers valued at 100 JOD (140.75 USD) every three months. The subsidy and cash transfer take place over 12 months. Firms can register up to 20 new workers under this subsidy programme, with a deadline of 30 September 2024. This financial support is an extension of an on-going programme called Estidama++ that targets firms with less than 10 workers.
2) Subsidy and child benefit intervention: In addition to the subsidy, firms will be offered an adapted social security package in which child benefits are included for their employees. Under this intervention, newly registered employees with children under the age of 17 will be eligible to apply for child benefits valued at JOD20 per child. To address the specific needs of single-parent households or families where both parents are actively employed, an additional 50% per child will be provided. This is to encourage gender inclusivity in the workforce and alleviate the financial burden on families facing childcare responsibilities.
In addition, firms in all treatments will receive information about the benefits of registering workers into social security for the firm and for the worker, the penalties for not doing so, and instructions on how to register a new worker.
The treatment arms will be cross-randomised by two means of communication:
1) In-person firm visits: In each firm visit, two SSC officers will deliver the information about social security and intervention offerings through in-person firm visits. In addition, SSC officers will encourage firms to register workers during the visit. They will also call the firm after the visit if the firm decided not to register on the spot. At the end of the visit, a leaflet about the intervention will be handed out. SSC officers will be trained by other SSC staff members involved in this project and by Nudge Lebanon.
2) SMS+: Firms will be initially approached with a phone call from SSC officers. These SSC officers will be trained by other SSC staff members involved in this project and by Nudge Lebanon. They will be invited to information sessions to be held at SSC branches to learn more about the subsidy and child benefits (firms will have a choice of two dates). Separate information sessions will be designed for different treatment groups. Over the next two weeks after the call, the firms will then receive a SMS as reminder once every week about the information session.
In addition, all treated firms will be provided with a dedicated hotline to which they can call to understand more about the offerings. The hotline will be directed to trained SSC staff members who normally receive calls about social security and will be additionally trained regarding the interventions.
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