Jordan has undergone a profound social security reform since 2010, primarily aiming to ensure the financial sustainability of the system over time. Using data from the 2010 and 2016 Jordan Labor Market Panel Survey (JLMPS), this chapter examines the dynamics of Jordanian workers’ access to social security and trends in early retirement incidence before and after the reform. The chapter also explores the time it takes to acquire social security coverage on the labor market before and after the reform. Our findings show that the overall incidence of social insurance coverage slightly increased in 2016, for private sector wage workers, irregular wage workers, and non-wage workers (employers and self-employed). Public sector employees were the most likely to acquire social insurance coverage at the start of their jobs, followed by the private sector wage workers inside establishments. Both men and women who started their first job after the 2010 reform experienced a decline in their probability of acquiring social insurance coverage upon their job start. Moreover, the average incidence of early retirement slightly declined among men while still being highly prevalent around ages 40–46.
