The United Nations, which marked a "World Day of Social Justice" on Sunday, Feb. 20, is calling for a "new era" in which all the people of the world have access to basic services and "decently" paying jobs.

According to the U.N., 80 percent of the world's people lack "adequate social protection."

To eliminate the problem, the U.N. is trying to establish what it calls a global "social protection floor."  Such a "floor" would guarantee food security, health services for all, and old-age pensions for the 80 percent of the world's people believed to lack such protections.

In his message urging "social justice for all," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, "No one should live below a certain income level, and everyone should have access to essential public services such as water and sanitation, health and education."