Madar (Tunis) - Tunisia's Social Affairs Minister Issam Lahmar announced on the evening of Saturday 14 November 2026 that a framework bill is being prepared to restructure the social security system, including its management and schemes, in order to extend social coverage to new categories of workers and bring more fairness between sectors, according to Tunisian radio Mosaique FM.
The minister was responding to MPs during the debate on his ministry's 2027 budget. He said social security schemes had for decades relied on contributions from the parties and on a pay-as-you-go system, and that calculations must be made over thirty years to keep the system sustainable.
According to Lahmar, the reform will create a diversified system covering categories that were not covered before, such as remote work, the platform economy and intermittent or irregular work. People who work by the day, such as street vendors, cannot fund social security under the current formula, which requires a payment of 210 dinars, he said.
The new system will let them contribute according to their means, with the coverage they receive supported by the state even if they do not reach the minimum threshold, according to the same source. The minister also spoke of a social support scheme behind the "Amen" programme for those who leave it and for those unable to pay contributions, with the aim of universal coverage.
The minister warned of a wide gap in benefits between the public and private sectors: the average pension exceeds 1,700 or 1,800 dinars in the public sector, while in the private sector it does not even reach half that amount. Closing this gap is a priority of the framework bill, he said.
On social assistance, Lahmar said a review of the system after its digitisation showed that 17% of beneficiaries of cash transfers and free healthcare hold university degrees, a figure he described as "large and alarming", arguing that the social allowance had turned into a kind of unemployment benefit, according to Mosaique FM.
The minister denied that social assistance cards had been withdrawn, saying some cards had been temporarily suspended for organisational reasons and that about 50% of them belonged to beneficiaries who had died. He noted that the allowance has risen from 180 dinars in 2022 to 280 dinars today.
