In spite of significant progress in recent years in a number of countries, including through extending provision of basic health-care access and income support to poor workers and households, Asia-Pacific countries still exhibit significant shortcomings in their social protection regimes. Public social security expenditure remains low at less than 2% of GDP in one-half of the countries where data are available (see figure 1.24). In addition, only 30% of persons above the retirement age in Asia and the Pacific receive a pension on average, while only 10% of the unemployed receive any benefits (ILO, 2010c) and (Bonnet, Saget and Weber, 2012).