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Mind the Gap Coverage, Adequacy, and Financing Gaps in Social Protection for the Extreme Poor and the Poorest Quintile: The State of Social Protection Report 2025 Background Paper #1

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dc.contributor.authorTesliuc, Emil Daniel
dc.contributor.authorMartinez Cordova, Ana Sofia
dc.date.accessioned2025-04-08T21:30:42Z
dc.date.available2025-04-08T21:30:42Z
dc.date.issued2025-04-08
dc.description.abstractMind the gap evaluates the progress in strengthening social protection and labor systems in emerging and developing economies (EDEs) in three areas: coverage, adequacy of benefits for the poor, and level of financing. The paper explores policy options to reduce the coverage and income gap for the world’s poorest. Over the past decade, social protection coverage in the average EDEs has increased by 10 percentage points, from 41 percent around 2010 to approximately 51 percent in 2022. In absolute terms, as of 2022, 4.7 billion out of 6.3 billion people in low- and middle-income countries were covered by social protection, while 1.6 billion were not covered at all. Moreover, about 0.4 billion people from the poorest quintile received insufficient social protection support. Overall, 2 billion people in low- and middle-income countries remain uncovered, or inadequately covered while poor, by social protection. Apart from coverage, Mind the gap also evaluates the extent to which EDEs are progressing toward universal social protection across various policy dimensions: benefit adequacy, financing levels, and targeting accuracy of social assistance programs. The findings indicate variable adequacy in benefit levels, significant government spending but persistent financing gaps, and generally modest pro-poor targeting with potential for improvement. These challenges are more pronounced in low-income countries. The paper also assesses the impact of social assistance programs on reducing extreme and relative poverty gaps, quantifies the annual costs needed to address these income shortfalls in EDEs, and explores options for closing these gaps, such as enhancing the efficiency of social assistance transfers and expanding fiscal space.en
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099714304042513308
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/43037
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1596/43037
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/43037
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherWashington, DC: World Bank
dc.relation.ispartofseriesSocial Protection Discusson Paper; No. 2508, March 2025
dc.rightsCC BY-NC 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/igo
dc.subjectNO POVERTY
dc.subjectWELL-BEING
dc.subjectSOCIAL PROTECTION
dc.subjectBENEFIT ADMINISTRATION
dc.titleMind the Gap Coverage, Adequacy, and Financing Gaps in Social Protection for the Extreme Poor and the Poorest Quintileen
dc.title.subtitleThe State of Social Protection Report 2025 Background Paper #1en
dc.typeWorking Paper (Numbered Series)
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.associatedcontenthttp://hdl.handle.net/10986/42842 State of Social Protection Report 2025: The 2-Billion-Person Challenge
okr.date.disclosure2025-04-08
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-14T11:50:12.880370Z
okr.date.lastmodified2025-04-08T13:05:43Zen
okr.doctypeWorking Paper (Numbered Series)
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.docurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099714304042513308
okr.guid099714304042513308
okr.identifier.docmidIDU-a634e0a3-068d-4d21-8e84-6b454ffa8ddb
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum40005120
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum40005120
okr.identifier.report200255
okr.import.id7054
okr.importedtrueen
okr.language.supporteden
okr.pdfurlhttps://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099714304042513308/pdf/IDU-a634e0a3-068d-4d21-8e84-6b454ffa8ddb.pdfen
okr.region.geographicalWorld
okr.topicPoverty Reduction::Poverty Reduction Strategies
okr.topicSocial Protections and Labor::Social Protections & Assistance
okr.topicSocial Protections and Labor::Wages, Compensation & Benefits
okr.unitSocial Protection & Labor AFR 2 (HAWS2)
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