Mexico's Temporary Employment Program : Case Study

Abstract

Mexico's Temporary Employment Program or PET (Programa de Empleo Temporal) is an example of a social safety net (SSN) program in a middle-income country that has integrated disaster risk management and climate change adaptation into its operations. PET is a cash-for-work program providing temporary transfers in exchange for labor in community projects to eligible households in marginalized municipalities or whose livelihoods have been affected by natural disasters or other crises. Some of the PET's interesting features include: a highly collaborative and formalized institutional relationship that has been developed between social protection, disaster management and sectoral agencies; the creation of a quick and efficient disaster response mechanism and contingency fund; the incorporation of disaster and climate sensitive targeting criteria and into sectoral public works programs; and a payment system that recognizes the mobility constraints of some beneficiaries. Mexico's PET is a social safety net program managed by the Government of Mexico (GoM). It provides temporary transfers in exchange for participation in public works projects to households in communities that is highly marginalized; suffer high unemployment levels, and/or whose livelihoods have been affected by the impact of natural disasters and other systemic crises. PET aims to reach the poor with labor-intensive public work programs that build infrastructure as well as environmental or sustainable agricultural improvements.