More than three million additional “independent” workers have subscribed to the Social Security Fund (SSF) to benefit from the government’s Covid-19 relief programme, according to a labour expert.
The surge brings the number of SSF subscribers under Section 40 of the social security law to more than 10 million, said Poolsap Suanmuang, manager of the Foundation for Labour and Employment Promotion.
She noted the sudden jump in SSF memberships occurred as the government launched assistance programmes to relieve the hardship faced by workers who lost their jobs or were furloughed as a result of the pandemic.
Section 40 covers non-mainstream, “independent” workers who conduct small-scale trade such as vendors and farmers.
Ms Poolsap said more people were admitted to the SSF under Section 40 during the pandemic than at any other time as they were apparently looking for…
