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As of July 2024, SSS membership had surpassed 42 million, but with 47.7 million Filipinos employed, a significant portion of the workforce could still be uncovered by the social security system
MANILA, Philippines – The Social Security System (SSS) reported a record increase in membership for the first half of 2024, with 2.4 million new members registered by July.
According to SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Rolando Ledesma Macasaet, this represented a 165% jump from the 923,000 new members recorded from January to July 2023. Historically, SSS has averaged around one million new members annually, a figure Macasaet aimed to double in 2024.
“SSS took the challenge and even went the extra mile. In the first six months, we hit our year’s target of two million new members, a positive result of our massive membership and coverage drives throughout the country,” Macasaet said.
SSS Executive Vice President for Branch Operations Voltaire Agas added that the majority of new members, around 1.2 million, were prior registrants — individuals who already had SS numbers but had not been reported as covered employees or self-employed members.
“We observed a significant increase in new self-employed members, which surged by 273 percent — from 112,000 in 2023 to 419,000 in 2024. Additionally, the number of new OFW members more than doubled, rising to 10,300 in 2024 from just over 5,000 last year,” Agas said.
Despite the surge, a large portion of the Philippine workforce remains outside the safety net of SSS. Filipinos working in informal and temporary employment are often excluded or undeserved by social security services. (READ: Worked for only an hour in a week? To PH gov’t, you’re already considered ‘employed’)
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority shows that as of July 2024, there were 47.7 million employed Filipinos. However, as of the same period, total membership in SSS had only recently surpassed 42 million.
Still, Macasaet is optimistic that the state pension fund can bring in 4 to 5 million new members by the end of 2024.
“Halfway through the year, we already hit our year’s target. But SSS won’t stop there. We remain steadfast in our mission to further broaden our membership base and cover all Filipinos in the workforce,” Macasaet said. – Rappler.com
