This paper employs a generational comparison to examine how
increasing labor market informality has affected how poor households
in Egypt gain access to and rely on social protection schemes. Using a
qualitative approach rare in research on social protection, the analysis
relies on a set of 53 in-depth interviews conducted in Cairo and rural
areas of Qena governorate. The interview sample was structured to
enable a comparison of social protection access among young (age 20 – 33)
and older (age 50 – 65) adults, and among men and women. The results
indicate that among the generation of Egyptians approaching retirement,
the expansion of public employment and a policy allowing easy access
to survivors’ benefits among female dependents served as important
means of increasing social insurance coverage. However, many young
households do not have even one member enrolled in the public pension
system. Labor market instability and informality have also lowered the
perceived value of social protection among this generation. In conclusion,
the paper discusses five common points of vulnerability across the four
groups studied: labor force discontinuity among workers in the private
sector, women’s dependence on survivor benefits, low pension values,
poor quality of and limited access to health insurance, and, finally, lack
of awareness of social protection mechanisms and poor understanding of
how they function. All of these factors may create significant barriers to
social protection access among poor households, and must be addressed if
coverage rates are to be extended, or even maintained, in the future.