ILO | Social Protection Platform

Situation and Priorities

Social protection situation

The Framework Law number 09.21 on social protection, adopted on March 15th of 2021, continues to be one of the most relevant milestones on social protection extension of Morocco, which includes the following components and goals:

Generalization of Compulsory Basic Health Insurance: which became operational by the end of 2022, with the creation of a subsidized social health insurance regime that absorbed the beneficiaries of the previous medical assistance scheme (RAMED). This allows low-income individuals to access both public and private healthcare services with partial reimbursement. Additionally, the establishment of the regime for the self-employed and non-salaried workers (AMO TNS) expanded coverage to these groups, though its implementation faced challenges due to complex registration procedures and a high rate of closed rights due to unpaid contributions.

While access to AMO Tadamon is means-tested, the AMO TNS scheme has entailed an innovative approach where a contribution base for each socio-professional category has been negotiated and established by decree. To date, more than 30 decrees have been issued. By September 2023, AMO Tadamon surpassed 10 million beneficiaries, and AMO TNS reached nearly 4 million beneficiaries. In early 2024, the government introduced AMO ACHAMIL, a complementary scheme for individuals not eligible for AMO Tadamon or professional insurance plans.

Through ongoing strengthening of AMO Tadamon’s governance, financing, and operational arrangements, 22 million additional people are expected to be covered with the same basic healthcare services when the health insurance component of the law is fully implemented.
Generalization of Family Allowances: Came into force in December 2023. Households not covered by the contributory scheme can now receive means-tested cash transfers (Aide Sociale Directe), with the amount varying based on family composition. Childbirth grants are also provided for the first two children. In 2024, the national budget allocated to Aide Sociale Directe is projected to reach US$2.48 billion (or 1.9% of GDP).
Expansion of Old-Age Pension Coverage: With only 23.4% of people above retirement age in Morocco receiving an old-age pension, the need for expanded coverage is clear and will be addressed through the forthcoming phase of the Framework Law in 2025. As part of that, a new contributory scheme dedicated to self-employed and informal economy workers will be launched, leveraging the contribution structure of AMO TNS, and the final pension will be determined via a point system. The reform is expected to increase the number of subscribers to the regime by 5 million.
Extension of Unemployment Benefit Scheme: The final pillar of the reform will be the extension of the current unemployment benefit scheme (Indemnité pour perte d’emploi) by 2025. The current contributory scheme is reserved for salaried workers only and has a very limited effective coverage of 1.4 percent of unemployed individuals. This reflects tight eligibility conditions, including the need to comply with a long minimum contributory period and a relatively short deadline to provide the required documentation. Under the reform, access conditions should be relaxed, and the scheme will be extended to all individuals in stable employment, including self-employed and informal economy workers.

The Moroccan government estimates that, by 2025, the generalization of social protection will require a total annual expenditure of around US$5 billion.

COVID-19 and other crises

In March 2020 the government of Morocco created a special fund dedicated to the management of the COVID-19 pandemic which enable support to numerous socio-economic support measures addressed to households and businesses. Among the support measures implemented, the compensation system for informal workers reached nearly 5.5 million households in a short period of time and by largely digitizing the process. As for employees registered to the Social Security National Fund (Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale), they benefited from a lump-sum compensation during the first three months (April to June 2020), in case of total or partial cessation of activity.

Visit the Social Protection COVID-19 Monitor

Government and social partner priorities

The generalization of the basic compulsory health insurance for the years 2021 and 2022
The generalization of family allowances during the years 2023 and 2024
Expanding the pension plan by 2025 to include those who are employed and not entitled to a pension
The generalization of job severance compensation by the year 2025