Social Safety Nets Primer

28 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9431

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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Natural Disasters : What is the Role for Social Safety Nets?

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-06) Clay, Edward

The frequency of dramatic natural shocks around the world is a reminder that governments and the international community need to do more to prevent and mitigate the human misery and economic costs that result from such calamities. Natural disaster risk management is a multi-sectoral endeavor to mitigate disasters. Social risk management moves the focus away from the disaster to explore how the society manages hazards. In this, safety nets can play a part. Safety nets here refer to income support programs targeted to the neediest (either as a result of ongoing poverty or the effect of the disaster itself) as a preventive measure, and in the recovery and rebuilding phase; not to emergency relief which is a vital first response and a different area of expertise. Such programs can operate through different modalities - cash, kind, public workfare; be targeted more or less broadly, and be implemented by a range of actors.
Levels and Patterns of Safety Net Spending in Developing and Transition Countries

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-01) Andrews, Colin

This paper offers a new set of data compiled from individual World Bank country reports and covering 87 developing and transition countries during 1996-2006. The findings show that mean spending on safety nets is 1.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and median spending is 1.4 percent of GDP across developing and transition countries. For about half of these countries, spending falls between 1 and 2 percent of GDP. Some variation is apparent. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Pakistan, and Tajikistan, for example, spend considerably less than 1 percent of GDP, while spending on social safety nets in Ethiopia and Malawi is nearly 4.5 percent of GDP because international aid is counted, but would be more like 0.5 percent if only domestically financed spending were counted. Other high-spending countries, Mauritius, South Africa, and the Slovak Republic, finance their safety nets domestically. Spending on safety nets is less variable than spending on social protection or the social sectors.
Social Safety Nets in World Bank Lending and Analytical Work : FY2002–2007

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-01) Andrews, Colin

During FY 2002-2007 the World Bank engaged with 118 countries on social safety net (SSN) issues, providing lending in 68, analytic products in 86, training in 87, and a combined package of all three services in 42. A review of these safety net activities shows a strong diversity with respect to the regions, types of intervention, sectors and financing instruments. This reflects evolving thought within the Bank with respect to the role of safety nets in broad development strategies, not just immediate or temporary programs. The findings of the portfolio review take into account all project and analytic documents where a thematic code of 'social safety nets' was assigned. The analysis shows a noticeable variability over time, particularly as the portfolio expanded when large or multiple countries faced economic crises. The regional distribution of safety net activities reflects the dominance of Latin America, with emerging activities in the African and South Asian context.
High Labour Intensive (HIMO) Public Works in Madagascar : Issues and Policy Options

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-12) Milazzo, Anna Maria

High labor intensive (HIMO) public work programs have been very popular in recent years in Madagascar. They have been one of the most common safety net program used to address poverty and vulnerability. The objective of these programs has been to provide income support to the poor in critical times, e.g. after natural disasters, or to respond to seasonal shortfalls in employment during the agricultural slack period (soudure), and to improve much needed local infrastructures. The Government has recently increased its commitment to assisting poor households to prevent, mitigate and cope with the consequences of these shocks. The poverty reduction strategy paper, presented by the Government in 2003, calls for a national strategy for social protection to address risks and vulnerabilities as a central challenge to reduce poverty and improve human capital in Madagascar. To supplement effective implementation of policies in the area of social protection, the Government developed a National Risk Management and Social Protection Strategy (NRMSPS) in 2007.
Social Safety Nets in OECD Countries

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-01) Tesliuc, Emil

The focus of the note is on non-contributory social programs for low-income households, or other vulnerable groups in OECD countries. These programs, typically referred to as social safety net (SSN) programs in developing countries, are labeled welfare programs in the US and social assistance programs in the European Union. This note covers 28 countries belonging to the OECD, and refers to an in depth review of SSN programs in the US and nine European Union countries prepared for a course on "Social Safety Nets in OECD Countries." The accompanying course materials have been developed by a team from the Urban Institute (for the US) and the University of Maastricht (for nine European Union countries). The material on US welfare policies also draws on Lindert (2005), and the review of reforms in OECD countries from Abt (2003).
Disability and Social Safety Nets in Developing Countries

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-01) Mitra, Sophie

The two-way relationship between poverty and disability fosters: disability increases the risk of poverty and the conditions of poverty increase the risk of disability, yet little attention has been given as to whether social safety nets reach persons with disabilities. Social safety nets have a role to play with regard to disability in terms of poverty alleviation, poverty reduction, and development and prevention. The note addresses the way to reach persons with disabilities - to target safety nets based on disability. This approach would benefit persons with such severe disabilities that they cannot participate in the opportunities generated by growth, inclusive employment and/or education policies. These programs might take a number of forms such as: social insurance schemes, publicly funded transfers (sometimes provided as part of a family allowance), in-kind targeting (assistance devices for example) or livelihood programs. However, a more feasible solution may be to ensure that mainstream social safety nets are "disability inclusive". How can mainstream social safety nets be designed, implemented, and evaluated so that persons with disabilities are not excluded? The note describes this process: identification of the physical, social, and communication barriers that prevent the inclusion of persons with disabilities is critical. For instance, do the attitudes of social safety net staff prevent or discourage access to benefits for persons with disabilities?
Toolkit for Programming Assistance to Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in Sub-Saharan Africa

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-01) Tovo, Maurizia ; Prywes, Menahem ; Kielland, Anne ; Gibbons, Catherine ; Saito, Junko

Orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC) are among the most vulnerable population groups in Africa. Without support and protection, they are exposed to the risk of abusive labor, lack of education, malnutrition, disease, and death. Estimates indicate that 20 percent of children in Sub-Saharan Africa are OVC. They constitute such a large group that, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), OVC concerns need to be mainstreamed into relevant World Bank projects and programs. This brief note refers to the toolkit designed as a web-based product to make it a widely accessible, live document. It draws on a large array of experiences and material from international agencies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), hence helping to disseminate lessons - good and bad - learnt in a variety of settings. The Toolkit is organized in four parts and twenty-four sections.
Aging and Poverty in Africa and the Role of Social Pensions

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-01) Subbarao, Kalanidhi

In many low income African countries, three factors are placing an undue burden on the elderly: 1) the burden on the elderly has enormously increased with the increase in mortality of prime age adults due to the HIV-AIDS pandemic and regional conflicts; 2) the traditional safety net of the extended family has become ineffective and unreliable for the elderly; and, 3) in a few countries, the elderly are called upon to shoulder the responsibility of the family as they became the principal breadwinners, and caregivers for young children. While a number of studies have examined the welfare consequences of these developments on children, few studies have systematically analyzed the poverty situation among the elderly (relative to other groups) in low income countries in Africa, and the role of social pensions. This study aims to fill this gap. The findings show much heterogeneity across countries with respect to the proportion of the elderly population, the living arrangements, and the composition of households, and household headship. The analysis shows that the poverty situation, and especially the poverty gap ratio, for the household types the "elderly only", the "elderly with children" and the "elderly-headed households" is much higher than the average in several countries, and the differences are statistically significant. The analysis further shows that the fiscal cost of providing a universal non-contributory social pension to all of the elderly will be quite high - 2 percent to 3 percent of GDP, a level comparable to, or even higher, than the levels of total public spending on health care in some countries. While categorical targeting of a pension for the above groups yields the maximum poverty reduction impacts, and is also fiscally sustainable even in low income countries, its operational feasibility is considered to be weak. The study concludes that the case for a universal approach is weak. The best option appears to be to target the pension only to the poor among the elderly, keeping the benefit level low. The study underscores the need for more country-specific work to explore the feasibility of the recommended option in diverse country settings.
A New Approach to Social Assistance: Latin America’s Experience with Conditional Cash Transfer Programs

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2004-01) Rawlings, Laura B.

Conditional cash transfers (CCTs) are an innovative and increasingly popular approach to social assistance. They provide money to poor families contingent upon certain behavior, usually investments in human capital such as keeping children in school or taking them to health centers on a regular basis. These programs are perhaps the clearest policy manifestation of a new line of thinking on the long-term role of social assistance programs. Not only are they instruments for short-term poverty alleviation, but they also encompass longer-term economic growth and human capital development objectives. They have been adopted internationally and in several countries they have been scaled up to become integral components of poverty alleviation strategies.
Costs of Projects for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children : Case Studies in Eritrea and Benin

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2004-01) Prywes, Menahem

Many developing countries are witnessing the emergence of a large and growing number of orphans, street children, and children in the worst forms of labor. In particular, conflict and HIV-AIDS have produced a large and growing cohort of orphans in Africa. Low cost solutions are critical if large numbers of orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC) are to be reached, yet there is very little information available on the actual costs of delivering services that assist them. This study estimates the costs of interventions in Benin and Eritrea, in order to determine which sorts of projects are most suitable for scaling up, given limited financial resources. The study measures the average annual economic costs of the project, while the economic analysis of costs used in the study includes depreciation, but also values the opportunity cost of the money tied up in the capital good. A key finding is that institutional solutions are costly compared to family based solutions.