Social-protection systems in many Asia-Pacific middle-income countries, including Indonesia, are failing to support large numbers of poor and vulnerable people due to a lack of spending on safety-net programs, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Wednesday.

"There are many vulnerable groups, including women and informal sector workers, who can't access unemployment, health or other social insurance but are also not poor enough to be eligible for social assistance, such as cash transfers," said Bart Edes, Director in ADB's Regional and Sustainable Development Department.

Speaking in a statement issued by the bank on the release of a new ADB study, "The Social Protection Index: Assessing Results for Asia and the Pacific', Edes said that most middle-income countries in the region, including Indonesia, spend less than 3 percent of their GDP on social-protection programs.

Only four countries – Japan, South Korea, Mongolia and Uzbekistan – have social-protection indexes of over 0.200, those that invest 8 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on safety nets.

"Government social-protection programs need to be expanded to cover this unprotected 'missing middle,' who are at risk of falling into poverty in the case of an economic, environmental, or health shock of some kind," Edes said.

The study, which analyzed government programs providing social insurance, social assistance, and labor-market support in 35 countries across Asia and the Pacific, noted that because social insurance tended to dominate government social spending, benefits accrue disproportionately to men and people not classified as poor.

Poor and disadvantaged people, particularly those working in the informal sector, benefit less because they lack the access to social insurance. They are instead targeted by social-assistance programs that in many countries are fragmented and provide inadequate transfers.

ADB said that relatively little is being spent on labor-market programs like cash-for-work and skills development. This needs to be addressed amid rising youth unemployment, critical skills gaps, and the disproportionate number of women who are unable to enter the formal labor market.

Areas for government attention include employment-guarantee schemes to construct or rebuild basic infrastructure, skills development, and technical and vocational education and training.

The bank said that countries at various stages of development needed to set their own targets, taking into account available public resources. However, governments needed to accelerate the review and reform of pension schemes in view of the region's huge informal sector and rapid aging.

Expanding social protection coverage requires mobilization of additional public revenue which can be secured by broadening the tax base, improving tax collection, and improving public expenditure management, the ADB said.

Governments should also encourage private firms to contribute more to social insurance programs.