Publication: Income Support for the Poorest : A Review of Experience in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Date
2014-06-26
ISSN
Published
2014-06-26
Author(s)
Abstract
Most countries in the world aspire to
protect poorest and most vulnerable families from
destitution and thus provide some type of income support to
those who are very poor. These programs are often layered
into social policy along with other transfers, subsidies, or
services. The way to best provide such last-resort income
support (LRIS) and its role in wider social policy is a
matter of some complexity, much experimentation, and much
study. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 28 of 30
countries operate LRIS programs. This study examines the
experience of LRIS programs in Eastern Europe and Central
Asia. It documents the outcomes of such programs throughout
the region in terms of expenditure, coverage, targeting, and
simulated effects on poverty and inequality. For a subset of
countries, the study documents and draws lessons from the
design and implementation arrangements - institutional
frameworks and administrative structures, eligibility
determination, benefits and conditions, governance
mechanisms, and administrative costs on the basis of
information gleaned during in-depth country engagements that
have extended a decade or more (Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria,
the Kyrgyz Republic, Lithuania, and Romania) and other
detailed work available from newer or more specific
engagements (Croatia, the Russian Federation, Serbia,
Ukraine, and Uzbekistan). The report is organized as
follows: chapter one gives introduction. Chapter two
provides an overview of the role of LRIS in the wider social
assistance policies of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Chapter three looks into the institutional and financing
arrangements of the LRIS programs in the case study
countries. Chapter four covers one of the two most charged
issues in narrowly targeted LRIS programs - how eligibility
is determined. Chapter five takes up the other charged issue
in these programs - the benefit formula and how labor
disincentives can be held in check with the guaranteed
minimum income design. Chapter six focuses on two key
elements of control and accountability systems in LRIS
programs - modern management information systems and
strategies to reduce error, fraud, and corruption. Chapter
seven examines the administrative costs of the LRIS programs
in the case study countries. Chapter eight highlights and
summarizes the lessons.
Citation
“Tesliuc, Emil; Pop, Lucian; Grosh, Margaret; Yemtsov, Ruslan. 2014. Income Support for the Poorest : A Review of Experience in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Directions in Development--Human Development;. © Washington, DC: World Bank. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/18886 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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