Social Impact Investing

SOCIAL IMPACT INVESTMENT: BUILDING THE EVIDENCE BASE
Table 5.4: Old-age and Health spending dominate public social protection budgets, and have been increasing
in almost all countries
Australia Canada France Germany Italy Japan
United United
Kingdom States
OECD-30
Old age
1996
3.9 4.2 10.8 8.0 11.0 5.4 5.4 5.1 6.5
14.1% n.d. 2.0% 0.2% 0.6% 4.2% 8.5% 0.8% 7.3%
2011
5.0 4.0 12.5 8.6 13.4 10.4 6.0 6.0 7.4
33.6% n.d. 3.3% 0.2% 0.9% 15.7% 8.7% 0.5% 7.9%
Health
1996
4.6 5.8 8.0 7.8 5.1 5.3 5.3 5.8 4.9
… … … … … … … … …
2011
5.8 7.2 8.6 8.0 7.0 8.2 7.7 8.0 6.2
… … … … … … … … …
Family
1996
2.8 0.8 2.7 2.0 0.7 0.5 2.3 0.5 1.8
21.2% 13.8% 42.1% 37.8% 35.3% 62.4% 20.8% 52.9% 27.8%
2011
2.8 1.2 2.9 2.2 1.5 1.4 4.0 0.7 2.2
31.3% 17.9% 57.7% 44.6% 50.2% 34.8% 34.6% 87.3% 43.1%
(Un)employment
1996
1.7 1.6 2.9 2.9 1.0 0.8 1.1 0.5 1.9
31.3% 28.4% 41.9% 44.1% 34.9% 38.8% 34.8% 32.3% 32.2%
2011
0.8 0.9 2.5 2.0 1.2 0.6 0.8 0.9 1.6
35.9% 25.6% 37.2% 40.1% 33.9% 47.2% 51% 13.8% 35.8%
Housing
1996
0.2 0.6 0.9 0.3 0.0 0.0 1.7 n.d. 0.4
… … … … … … … n.d. …
2011
0.3 0.3 0.8 0.6 0.0 0.1 1.5 n.d. 0.4
… … … … … … … n.d. …
Note: Cells in white report the total public spending by year on each sector as a proportion of GDP, shaded cells report the proportion
of this spending delivered in services with the exception of (un)employment where shaded cells represent the proportion of total
spending on active labour market policies. “n.d.” is for no data, and “…” replaces 100% for health and housing services where total
spending matches total service spending. 2011 data is provisional.
Source: Author’s calculations of OECD Social Expenditure data, 2014a.
5.40 Perhaps surprisingly, voluntary private spending outstrips mandatory spending in all countries
(with the exception of Italy – total voluntary spending is almost 4 times as high at 2.3% of GDP on average
in 2011) and Old Age interventions (via pension contributions, at 1.3% of GDP on average) generally
receive more voluntary private investment than health (with the exception of France, Germany and the
United States via health insurance and pharmaceutical purchases). Notably for social enterprises,
particularly in what might be small to medium sized enterprises, service interventions play a very small
role in private social expenditure.
5.41 Across the OECD as a whole, total education expenditures from public and private sources are
also rising (as well as in all of the G7 countries and Australia, with the exception of France and Germany –
see online data annex, and Education at a Glance [OECD, 2013c]). On average in 2010, total public
education spending in the OECD countries stood at 6.3% of GDP compared to 5.4% of GDP in 1995. It is
important to note however, for interpreting where space may exist for SII, these education figures do not
disentangle private spending – whether promoted through mandatory systems, paid by families, or paid by
local voluntary or professional services – from public spending. In most countries private spending is small
relative to public and will more likely go to fees and variable costs associated with education provision
(educational items, books and so on), and not fixed capital costs (buildings and their up-keep and wages)
that public funds cover. SII may look very different in education space depending on which type of
education service is being provided, and which market will provide the custom (private or public). Further
breakdowns might be made in future research, and some countries will be more affected by this than
others, including Japan where private education spending is higher-than-average.
© OECD 2015 71