Launched at the 2018 OECD Social Policy Ministerial in Montréal, Canada, the OECD Risks that Matter (RTM) survey offers insights into people’s perceptions of short- and long-term social and economic risks; opinions on the effectiveness of government social programmes; and preferences for public policy and social protection going forward. Since the launch of the first survey and main results in 2018, the OECD has run three additional waves of the RTM survey—one in 2020 with additional questions on the experiences of people during COVID-19, one in 2022 with specific modules on the climate crisis and automation, and one in 2024 with new content on population ageing, fertility preferences and gender equality.
With 27 OECD countries included in the 2024 wave, the RTM survey is the most extensive global survey of perceptions of, and preferences for, social protection. The perspectives provided by the RTM survey offer important insights on how to expand and reform social protection in OECD countries.
