Analysis Of The Awareness Of The Sultanate Of Oman Government's Social Protection Coverage Program Among Self-Employed Orange Taxi Drivers

Abstract

Despite the global push for social security, it is estimated that 73% of the world's population lacks access to adequate social protection plans (ILO 2016), and contributory social insurance programs continue to cover only a small portion of the population—typically only those who are in the standard employment in the public and private sectors. In many countries, the self-employed individuals who engage in non-standard employment are considered ineligible for the government's social security program and so is the case of the Sultanate of Oman.  Though the taxi drivers are referred to as a high-risk, underserved, and non-traditional workforce when compared to other sorts of labor due to the nature of the work they perform, their jobs are usually considered as non-standard. Self-employed orange taxi drivers in Oman falls in this category who do not contribute towards the government’s social protection program. This study aims to shed new light on Oman’s self-employed  orange taxi drivers’ awareness and access to government’s social insurance program.