Whether a Lebanese worker can count on health coverage or an end-of-service payout often comes down to one thing: the kind of job they hold. A new study from the Lebanese American University (LAU) puts a number on that link, finding that enrollment in the country's main social security scheme is closely tied to holding a salaried job rather than working for oneself.
The paper, titled "Non-universal social protection systems and labor market outcomes in unstable economies: the case of Lebanon," was published in the International Journal of Manpower. It was co-authored by Ali Fakih, a professor and associate dean at LAU's Adnan Kassar School of Business, alongside Khodr Fakih, an associate professor and director of Legal Studies at the same school, and alumna Wafaa El Baba.
How the study was built
For the analysis, the authors drew on the 2019 Labor Force and Household Living Conditions Survey, the most recent comprehensive labor dataset for Lebanon. It covers more than 39,000 households and over 149,000 individuals.
From that pool, they focused on 47,791 employed people aged 15 and above. A statistical model compared three groups, wage workers, the self-employed, and employers, while accounting for gender, age, education, household size, enterprise size, income, and insurance coverage.
Public insurance follows the paycheck
Workers enrolled in the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) were far more likely to be wage employees than self-employed. NSSF enrollment raised the likelihood of wage employment by nearly 24 percent in the analysis.
Public-sector schemes, including the Civil Servants' Cooperative and coverage for the army and internal security forces, showed a similar pattern. Private insurance did not. It was not significantly tied to wage employment, but it was positively linked to being an employer.
In plain terms, salaried workers are the main beneficiaries of public schemes like the NSSF, while many of the self-employed and business owners rely on other arrangements or go without formal cover.
Who ends up covered
Benefits are spread unevenly across the workforce. Women, young people, and prime-age workers were more likely to be wage employees and NSSF beneficiaries, as were those with a university education compared to workers who stopped at secondary school.
Company size mattered too. Workers at medium and large firms were much more likely to hold salaried jobs with NSSF coverage, while those at small firms faced more informality and weaker protection. That points to many micro and small businesses sitting only partly inside the system.
The case for wider coverage
Based on the results, Ali Fakih said Lebanon needs "a more inclusive social protection system." He described extending coverage beyond salaried work to reach the self-employed and people in small firms, through affordable contributions, simpler registration, and fewer administrative hurdles.
He also called for formalizing small enterprises with targeted incentives and digital procedures, and for strengthening the NSSF itself, including benefits that keep pace with inflation and faster access to payouts. Because payroll contributions alone cannot reach everyone, he said contributory insurance should sit alongside tax-funded measures such as a social pension and wider social assistance.
Why 2019 data still matters
The 2019 dataset predates Lebanon's financial collapse, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beirut port explosion, and the sharp fall in the currency. Fakih said newer figures would likely change "the magnitude of the findings," though not the overall direction of the argument.
"Since then, informality, job insecurity, and financial pressure on both workers and firms have intensified," he said. "For this reason, more recent data may show an even wider gap between workers who have access to NSSF coverage and those who do not." The self-employed and informal workers, he added, have likely grown more exposed to income shocks, health costs, and insecurity in old age.
