Social Protection has gained prominence in policy frameworks and government programmes throughout the world, not least due to the adoption of the Social Protection Floor Recommendation by the International Labour Conference in 2012. Many countries are in the process of implementing social protection floors. Publications, conferences, policy papers and public debates on social protection abound. Prominent NGO platforms promote social protection. And yet it remains surprisingly unclear what exactly is the meaning of social protection. Often used interchangeably with the long-standing concept and human right of social security, social protection can be a new concept to existing poverty reduction objectives or an encompassing, comprehensive approach to social policy in general. It addresses life-cycle contingencies such as parenthood, unemployment, sickness and death and may expand the provision of livelihood by elements of promotion and prevention. It may even be a pathway to the transformation of social structures and thus serve social justice.