Isik-Dikmelik, Aylin2013-05-282013-05-282012-11https://hdl.handle.net/10986/13565Social benefits can potentially play an important role in protecting the poor and minimizing the impacts of an economic crisis. While many studies estimate the impacts of a crisis, there is little evidence of the actual response of social safety nets to systematic shocks. This study traces the response of social benefits during the 2008-10 global crisis for 14 countries in Europe and Central Asia (ECA). The study first sets out a framework for defining the 'expected' response of social benefits covering an assessment of pre-crisis preparedness of social benefits and the severity of the crisis for all countries in the ECA region to provide the context; and then develops a typology of all countries categorized by expected response. Using this typology the study analyzes the monthly administrative data on the observed patterns within social benefit programs. Main findings indicate that actual responses were largely in line with expectations. Pre-crisis preparedness clearly influenced the ability of social benefits to respond to the crisis. Unemployment benefits were generally the first line of response in countries that have them, while social assistance programs also expanded coverage during the crisis. Lessons learned from the 2008?2010 global crisis (such as the importance of structural reform, design, and implementation which affect the success of social benefits programs in crisis response) are also presented. The study concludes with some policy recommendations to help ECA countries prepare for future crises.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOADVERSE IMPACTALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCYALLOWANCE PROGRAMANTIPOVERTY PROGRAMSASSISTANCE PROGRAMSAUTOMATIC STABILIZERBENCHMARKBENEFICIARIESBENEFICIARYBENEFIT SCHEMESBENEFIT SYSTEMSCAPACITY BUILDINGCASH ASSISTANCECASH TRANSFERSCHILD ALLOWANCESCHILD HEALTHCONSUMER PRICE INDEXCONTRIBUTORY PENSIONSCOPING STRATEGIESDEPENDENCYDEVELOPMENT POLICYDISABILITIESDISABILITYDISABILITY ALLOWANCEDISABILITY ALLOWANCESDISABILITY BENEFITSDISABILITY PENSIONEARLY RETIREMENTECONOMIC COOPERATIONECONOMIC CRISESECONOMIC CRISISECONOMIC DOWNTURNECONOMIC DOWNTURNSECONOMIC OUTLOOKECONOMIC SHOCKSELDERLYELIGIBILITYELIGIBILITY CRITERIAENTITLEMENTENTITLEMENT PROGRAMSEUFAMILY ALLOWANCEFAMILY ALLOWANCESFAMILY BENEFITFAMILY BENEFITSFINANCIAL CRISISFISCAL CONSTRAINTSFISCAL DEFICITSFISCAL POLICYFOOD STAMPSGDPHOUSEHOLD INCOMESHOUSEHOLD LEVELHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHOUSEHOLD WELFAREHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTINCOMEINCOME SUPPORTINDEXATIONINEQUALITYINSTITUTIONAL CAPACITYINVENTORYJOBLESSLABOR FORCELABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKETSLABOR STATISTICSLIVING STANDARDSMARGINALIZATIONMIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIESMINIMUM INCOMENATURAL DISASTERSNEEDY FAMILIESNUTRITION ASSISTANCEOLD AGEPARTTIME EMPLOYMENTPENSIONPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLITICAL SUPPORTPOORPOSITIVE EFFECTSPOVERTY LINEPRICE INCREASESPRODUCTIVITYPROTECTION POLICYPUBLIC SERVICEPUBLIC SPENDINGPUBLIC WORKSPUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMSPURCHASING POWERRESPONSE TO CRISESRETIREMENT BENEFITSRISK MANAGEMENTSAFETYSAFETY NET PROGRAMSSAFETY NET SYSTEMSSAVINGSSHOCKSOCIAL ASSISTANCESOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMSSOCIAL BENEFITSSOCIAL PENSIONSOCIAL PENSIONSSOCIAL POLICIESSOCIAL POLICYSOCIAL PROGRAMSSOCIAL PROTECTIONSOCIAL RISKSOCIAL SAFETY NETSOCIAL SAFETY NETSSOCIAL SERVICESSTAFFSTRUCTURAL REFORMSSUPPORT PROGRAMSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTTARGETINGTARGETING MECHANISMSTEMPORARY ASSISTANCEUNEMPLOYEDUNEMPLOYED WORKERSUNEMPLOYMENTUNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITUNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITSUNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCEUNEMPLOYMENT RATEUNEMPLOYMENT RATESUNIVERSAL BENEFITSVULNERABLE GROUPSWAGESWARWELFARE SYSTEMSWILLWORKERSWORKFAREWORKS PROGRAMcrisis readinesscrisis responseWorld Bank10.1596/13565