Social Safety Nets Primer

28 items available

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This series is intended to provide a practical resource for those engaged in the design and implementation of safety net programs around the world. Readers will find information on good practices for a variety of types of interventions, country contexts, themes and target groups, as well as current thinking on the role of social safety nets in the broader development agenda.

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    Price and Tax Subsidies : Effectiveness and Challenges
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-01) Mackintosh, Fiona ; del Ninno, Carlo
    Many governments use price and tax subsidization to meet social protection objectives. They endeavor to reduce the cost of living for their population-or for a subset of the population-by subsidizing the price of goods or services in lieu of, or in addition to, direct income transfers. While these subsidies may distort production incentives, subsidize the non-poor more than the poor, and limit consumer choice, there are reasons why a government may choose to use some forms of pricing policy rather than make income transfers to help the poor.
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    Systemic Shocks and Social Protection : The Role and Effectiveness of Public Works Programs
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-01) Mackintosh, Fiona ; Blomquist, John
    Public works programs have been an important safety net intervention in both developed and developing countries for many years. By providing temporary low-wage jobs to unskilled manual workers, income is transferred to poor households in a self-targeted manner while achieving useful projects such as road construction and maintenance, irrigation infrastructure, reforestation, and soil conservation.
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    Assisting the Poor with Cash : Design and Implementation of Social Transfer Programs
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-01) Blomquist, John ; Mackintosh, Fiona
    Cash transfers can be defined as the provision of assistance in the form of cash to the poor or those who face a probable risk, in the absence of the transfer, of falling into poverty. Cash transfers, broadly defined, can be given in the form of social assistance, insurance, near-cash tax benefits, and private transfers. This note focuses on government programs, recognizing that private transfers and public programs serve multiple objectives, of which social safety net protection is just one.