Who is covered and who under-reports: An empirical analysis of access to social insurance on the Egyptian labor market

This working paper investigates the dynamics and determinants of having access to social insurance coverage on the Egyptian labor market among wage and non-wage workers. The results show that men, older, married, better educated, and white collar highly skilled workers are more likely to have social insurance coverage. Access to social insurance is more likely to exist in the public sector and in large private enterprises. Furthermore, acquiring social insurance coverage in the private wage work sector does not often come at first entry; but it takes some time to gain such access. In contrast, experience is not important for acquiring social insurance coverage among non-wage workers. Underreporting insurable wages is negatively correlated with levels of education and labor market experience, and the likelihood of underreporting increases with monthly basic salary and years to retirement age.