Employment Opportunity and Social Protection in Honduras

Introduction

Employment and social protection are factors that enhance the health of a given population. Countries that have high rates of employment and advanced social protection programs improve the health conditions of their citizens. High rates of unemployment significantly affect the health of the population since people are unable to afford healthcare services. Moreover, low coverage of social protection predisposes the old to poverty; hence, making them not to afford healthcare services. Pluiq-Barrachina, Malmusi, Martinez, and Benach (2011) state that unemployment is a health determinant that is responsible for the health inequalities that are evident in most countries. Given that the employment rate correlates with the level of social protection, they are factors that determine the health status of a certain population. Therefore, this essay examines the employment opportunity and social protection that Honduras provides to its population.

Honduras is a developing country with less than 50% of its population being unproductive. This implies that the unemployment rate is very high and thus the number of dependants exceeds that of the productive people. According to Johnston and Lefebvre (2013), the unemployment rate of Honduras is 43.6% owing to slow economic growth as indicated by the gross domestic product. Given the high rates of unemployment, a considerable part of the population lives in poverty. In this view, it shows that unemployment is the cause of poverty and consequently inequality of healthcare services. Pluiq-Barrachina et al. (2011) argue that unemployment does not only cause poverty and unaffordability of healthcare services but also contribute to the occurrence of unhealthy lifestyles such as drug abuse and prostitution. Moreover, as unemployment causes poverty, the poor struggle to feed their families and therefore making them susceptible to hunger and malnutrition. Therefore, the health care system in conjunction with the government should devise interventions that would help communities to engage in meaningful economic activities and reduce the high rate of unemployment.

Honduras has stratified social protection that is dependent on different pension regimes. Honduran Institute of Social Security is one of the social protection regimes that grant benefits to the old people in aspects such as maternity, illnesses, occupational injuries, disability, involuntary unemployment, and death (Franzoni, 2013). Other regimes belong to special groups such as teachers, military, and public employees. People, who subscribe to the Honduran Institute of Social Security, enjoy the benefits of social protection and improve their health conditions. The coverage of social protection is 21% among the economically active people and subscribers of the Honduran Institute of Social Security (Franzoni, 2013). These statistics show that about 80% of economically active people have an insecure future because they would not enjoy social protection benefits. Pluiq-Barrachina et al. (2011) argue that unemployed people do not subscribe to social protection programs because they do not have stable sources of income. Thus, unemployment rates determine social protection coverage, which ultimately determines the health status of the population.

The extent of employment and the level of social protection are two important factors that determine the health status of the population in Honduras. From the statistics, it is evident that the unemployment rate in Honduras is about 43%, which is very high when compared to that of the developed countries. These statistics depict that a significant number of people cannot afford healthcare services. Regarding social protection, Honduras has social protection a coverage of 21% in the regime of the Honduran Institute of Social Security. This regime is very promising because it covers a significant proportion of active employees in the private sector.

References

Franzoni, M. (2013). Social protection systems in Latin America and the Caribbean: Honduras. Web.‎

Johnston, J., & Lefebvre, S. (2013). Honduras since the coup: Economic and social outcomes. Web.

Pluiq-Barrachina, V., Malmusi, D., Martinez, M., & Benach, J. (2011). Monitoring social determinants of health inequalities: the impact of unemployment among vulnerable groups. International Journal of Health Services, 41(3), 459-482.